Continuing the 6 Week Challenge - Week 4

This week I continue the six week challenge that is on www.ourfamilyeats.com. I jumpstarted the challenge by doing weeks 1 to 3 at the same time.  Now, I am on to week 4 and removing the artificial fragrances. So this will be about reading labels and getting rid of the (hopefully) few items I have don’t meet the standard.  I am also going to try lavender in an essential oil form to replace things I do like to have fragrance.

I know this is worth it after running into one of my daughter’s teachers at school last week when I had to pick her up due to Atlanta’s version of a blizzard and icestorm (i.e. 2 inches of snow with a layer of preventable ice).  She was praising my daughter for how focused she’s been and how she’s been picking up things so quickly when she is focused. It was enough to make a mother proud and truly committed to these changes.  Plus, the rest of us are eating better and not polluting ourselves as much.  It does help that I bribe their cooperation with fresh baked muffins, biscuits, and cookies…

See my Pinterest page (www.pinterest.com/momadored) for some of the recipes I’ve made and plan to make.   I add a teaspoon or so of flaxseed into just about everything I bake and they are none the wiser.

My Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins (Yummmmmmy!!!!) - Kids and Hubby LOVED them

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins (from ourfamilyeats.com - with my modifications)

(We made this last week Monday and they are SOOO DELICIOUS!!!)

Makes 12 muffins

1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted (if you don't have this use oil)
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup light brown sugar, or palm sugar
4 ounces unsweetened applesauce (subbed a 1/2 cup plus about 2 tsp sugar)
3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal (I used a 1/2 cup so my daughter wouldn't complain too much)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 cup chocolate chips
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl stir together coconut oil, milk, eggs, sugar, and applesauce.

In another mixing bowl stir together oatmeal, flour, baking soda, salt, and flax seeds.

Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide mixture evenly between muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Turkey Sausage Patties - Made from Scratch (well from Ground Turkey)

The recipe I used was courtesy of www.ourfamilyeats.com.  This is the site that has the 6 week challenge to remove damaging ingredients from your diet to improve a myriad of conditions including ADD and ADHD.  We have started the challenge by going jumping right into it with eliminating things she has in weeks 1 through 3.  Yesterday was our first official day and so far, so good.  Eliminating some of the bad has made room for some family bonding with baking homemade chocolate chip cookies this afternoon.  You have to have balance.  I know I'd  have a revolt if everything that was tasty and pleasing to the palette went out the door!

So here it is: Turkey Sausage Patties from scratch.  Below is her original recipe.  I followed it pretty close but note there are no measurements for several of the seasonings so go heavier to have more flavor.  My next batch will be made with organic ground beef. 

What I would tweak: Add a bit more salt and pepper than a pinch.  I found that after cooking them they seemed to need a tad more salt.  I used sea salt for mine.  Even so, they passed the kid approval test and my husband was pleased as well.

Here's mine!

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon oregano (or to taste)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

pinch of salt

add 1/2 teaspoon of any of the following according to your preference:

crushed red pepper flakes

parsley

thyme

basil

minced garlic

In a medium sized mixing bowl mix together turkey and spices with your hands until spices are distributed evenly.  Divide mixture into 12 evenly sized patties.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick skillet.  Add patties and cook about 3 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink.

21 Days to a Healthier Me - Follow Up

On August 25th I began a physical aspect of my spiritual journey - to help make my body healthier so that I would be more able to be of service. 

It was to be a 21 day process and now it's time for an update since it has now been a month.

I had to add on some time since our family vacation during the middle of the 21 days threw me off (QUITE) a bit.  I don't think brownies and icecream ever tasted so good....

Back to the point.  I am here and feeling better than I did a month ago.  My clothes fit better and despite being completely caffeine free for a month and having only one or two alcoholic beverages (while on vacation) I have more energy and clarity of thought. 

I am figuring out how much I can push before I get push back on some of the food I put on the table.  The fake chicken was a huge fail, but most everything else passed.  

I personally will be going back off red meat unless it is a special occasion and limiting my chicken and poultry as well as farm-raised salmon.  Thank goodness for protein in beans and nuts and even oatmeal, who knew?

I learned that eating healthy can be very expensive and sometimes limiting.  It isn't easy to find healthy meal options when traveling and my organic or natural substitutes for what I usually buy can be 25% to 100% more. 

I still shop at my local Kroger's because the energy of the Farmer's Market and the mass confusion there is just overwhelming.  I found some cool things in the 'Nature's Market' and organic section.  Natural Raspberry icecream with literally just FOUR ingredients.  What!?! Yeah and it's good. 

(Yeah, I know, I probably could do much better so will be trying to find a good time to shop there for fruits, vegetables, and staples.)

I didn't go completely off dairy though we have less of it and our milk is now Almond milk and everyone enjoys it AND my little man's constant constipation is no longer an issue.  Hmmmm, coincidence? I don't think so.

 Cold Quinoa Salad

Veggie Penne Pasta

Cooked Kale

I am trying to eat and feed my family foods that are closer to nature, closer to whole, closer to pronounceable and non GMO.   I've been shying away from products that contain corn or soy, unless the corn is organic. I have even found my family will eat the Flax Seed Simple Truth Organic bread (store brand) like it is going out of style.  Of course it's about twice as much as a regular loaf.


So the purse hurts a bit more today but I am sure that if I keep this up and continue to put good things into our bodies, the payoff will be less pain down the road.  Less risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, overweight, obesity, and a myriad of other long-term and chronic conditions that keep the American public enslaved to the medical and pharmaceutical fields.  That alone is worth the investment.

Learn more about the Non-GMO Project (I'm still learning too)

21 Days to a Healthier Me (and Family)

I posted on Sunday that I was coming off of white starches and dairy this week.  A childhood friend asked what else I planned to do.  Well, I realized there wasn’t a short answer (when EVER do I have a short answer?) so I figured I wouldn’t try to make one, and just be thorough.

So this 21 Days to a Healthier Me is a part of my renewed commitment to a lifestyle of wellness and service.  As a Reiki practitioner I want to make sure I am fit to serve and fit enough to serve.  I began to think about what I put into my body and whether that was what I should be putting into my body and my family’s bodies.  I didn’t have an ‘unhealthy’ lifestyle, but I had a few strongholds.  Darned Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Santitas Chips, Pepsi (after years of no colored sodas I went back and being from upstate new York and Pittsburgh, well Pepsi was the preference).  

I am not a glutton for punishment. I don’t believe you have to suffer to good health, because then you just wind up mad, frustrated, and counting days until you are free to resume your normal habits.  I am doing a phased in approach for the first 21 days.  I’ll continue on this for the rest of September and see how I feel. 

So Week 1: Cut out all caffeine and processed sugars (where reasonable). 

So I haven’t had any candy, Pepsi, coffee or even caffeinated tea since I started this on Sunday, August 22^nd.  The first day (Sunday) I had a splitting headache that rocked me all day.  Finally at about 6:30 I took about 400mg of ibuprofen and that helped.  It was much better the next day and by the third day it was barely noticeable.  

I was already away from high fructose corn syrup and trying to move from corn syrup as well.

Note: I had a teaspoon of regular sugar in my tea on 1 of the first 2 days. I still couldn’t get that detox tea down and so just left it alone.  I also discovered after having them that a snack I thought was pretty good had sugar listed on the package pretty far down.  Grrrr. They put sugar in everything.  

Week 2: Cut out dairy (milk, cheese, butter), white starches, and red meat.

Substitutes: Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, vegan or veggie cheeses and butters. I picked a Smart Balance-Light spread and Earth Balance Natural Buttery sticks.  I will admit the cheeses haven’t gone over well with anyone except for my unassuming and uncorrupted toddler.  I don’t even need to sub out red meat. I went without for almost 15 years and only started back when I was pregnant in 2011.

What about calcium?  Well Almond milk has 45% of the daily recommended calcium, compared to about 30% in regular whole milk.  

What about protein?  It is recommended that we have 36 grams of protein per pound that we weigh.  For a person of 150 lbs that’s 54 grams.  There are so many vegetables and whole foods that give as much or more protein that dairy.  Quinoa is my favorite. It is the perfect protein and can be made to eat hot or cold.  Oatmeal for example has 6 grams per ½ cup uncooked serving.  The veggie pasta I purchased has 14 grams in a 3.5 ounce serving.   And beans are another excellent source with sometimes double digit protein levels.  Other foods like kale, cauliflower, broccoli, and spinach hold their own as well with between 2 and 4. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread can add another 15.  With balanced planning protein is no problem.  Plus protein coming from vegetables and plants are easier for our bodies to digest.

Note: I planned to start this on Sunday, August 29^th but we went to the Braves game and surprisingly there was little that wasn’t either fried, white starch based, or cheese covered. So…I had cheese pizza and gave myself the “Special Event Pass”.

Week 3: Cut out meat (yes – no poultry, no eggs*, no fish, not even sushi)

This may be the hardest week, which is why I am saving it for last. I am hoping that seeing the changes in how I feel and how my clothes fit will keep me motivated.  I have already found some tasty looking substitutes from tofu.  I am not going to skip a meal that has an egg as part of the overall ingredient (such as a baked pasta), but I am not going to prepare an egg for breakfast.

So what am I eating? The coffee and sugar was pretty easy.  I began making some small changes last week in anticipation but when I removed the white starches and dairy I was looking in my pantry and fridge and was literally hungry.  So… we went to Chipotle for dinner and then to the grocery store where I scoured the “healthy and organic” selections.   My daughter begged me for a treat and so I bought sherbet.  Tonight I let her have some and before putting it back in the freezer scanned the ingredients and High Fructose Corn Syrup was one. Eyes rolled and my daughter ran and said she already licked it so I couldn’t take it.

I bought things like broccoli, kale, spinach, butternut squash, tomatoes, cauliflower, whole grain bread, peanut butter, sweet potato chips (the treat), trail mix, chick’n strips (not real chicken), the non-dairy butter, blue-berries, veggie pasta, veggie cheese, fruit leather for the kids, Kashi bars, almond and coconut milks, canned tuna, and organic turkey lunch meat.

I have a tasty kale recipe on my blog as well as one for a cold quinoa salad.  I made a different quinoa salad this weekend for my daytime lunch which was also tasty and that I’ll post later.  I just tried a modified macaroni and cheese but it didn’t fly with the kids.  Hubby’s away on business so I get to taste test on them.  My toddler just sat there and I asked him if he wanted it and he matter of factly shook his head and said “no”.   I probably will just skip the mac and cheese because there is pretty much no easy way to make it taste good without real cheese, milk, and eggs.

My dietary goal is to try to eat more whole, less processed, and consume fewer products that come down the corn line.  So I am decreasing and removing foods that contain corn, are fed corn, or fed corn by product.  That means that any meat I eat this week will be grass-fed or grain fed.  The Vegetarian fed says to me it probably is being fed corn.  Given what they are doing to the corn and soy and the subsidies they receive, I am not sure it is an industry I want to support.  But that’s another story.

When this month is out, my whole family should be healthier.  We’ll slowly add back in some things and see how we feel after a few days of having it.  If we don’t really miss it, we’ll leave it. When it’s time for a treat, we’ll have it.  

As far as exercise, my goal is to exercise vigorously for a minimum of 30 minutes at least 5 days per week.   Sometimes I walk outside if the weather is nice; otherwise I head to the YMCA’s indoor track and get into my groove.

When I was at Kaiser Permanente doing community health work, they kicked off an Everybody Walk initiative.  Just take that first step.  Even if it is just to the mailbox and back, then to a neighbors and back.  Then around your block.  You get the point. Just start walking.  I can’t run due to the beating I put on my legs doing track and field, but I can walk.  

Just this weekend, I finally watched a documentary I had wanted to watch for months called Forks Over Knives.  It is available on Netflix o see their website and if you get a chance and dare to challenge some long time thinking, check it out.

r

Sweet and Savory Kale Recipe - Back of Bag Recipe that Rocked!

We loved this kale dish I made on Saturday.  Delicious and can be made in 20 to 30 minutes. 
(This recipe in original form was from the bag of Nature's Greens Kale I used)

Prep Time: Approximately 5 minutes
Cook Time: Approximately 20

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 medium onion-chopped (I used a white onion)
3 cloves garlic-minced (I used dehydrated garlic by
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard (I used honey dijon dressing)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups chicken stock (I used chicken broth)
1 lb of clean chopped Kale (mine was a bag of Nature's Greens Kale)
1/3 cup sliced cranberries (I used light sweetened dried cranberries from the bag - but didn't have a full 1/3 cup so used what I had)
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil on medium high heat.  Add onion and garlic; saute until onion softens, sirring often, about 5 minutes.  Stire in ustard, sugar, cider vinegar and chicken stock. Bring to a boil on high heat.  Add kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes stirring often.

Add cranberries and continue cooking on medium high heat, stirring often.  The liquid should reduce by about half and cranberries will get plump in about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with almonds, if desired.

Serves 4 to 6 (unless you are like me and got heaping spoonfuls)