Welcome to our Blog!

I went vegetarian over a year ago because I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. My sister-in-love, Dianne gave me a DVD from the RAVE diet and it changed my mind about food and health. As a result, I went "all in" and completely revolutionized my lifestyle. This blog will be in part about my journey and the results I achieved. It will be about encouraging you to achieve similar or better results. It will be a forum for ideas and recipes. It will be a resource for folks that want to embrace the vegetarian lifestyle, but also want to eliminate refined foods from their diet. I am a very practical girl. I will apply common sense to what I'm doing and will not be fanatical. I did not go vegetarian because of my love for animals although I am an animal lover. I'm not strictly vegetarians as I will eat fish once every two or three months. I just want to be the healthiest that I can be. Period. I invite you to join me on our continuing journey.

AOL Health Article that ran on 1/12/09

Eating less meat is a proven way to lighten up on the scale. Research shows that vegetarians weigh an average 20% less than nonvegetarians. George Washington School of Medicine researchers found that women who followed a vegan diet for 14 weeks lost 2 1/2 times as much weight as those who limited fat intake. There's no need to go cold turkey--just eating less meat can make a difference. In a Brigham Young University study of 284 women, 53% of those who typically averaged about 10 ounces of meat a day were overweight, compared with 16% of those who ate less than 6 ounces. Plant-based foods are naturally low in calories and high in nutrients and satiating fiber, so you feel full without overdoing it, says Gabrielle M. Turner-McGrievy, RD. A cup of lentil soup, a small handful of nuts, or 1/4 cup of chickpeas tossed with whole-wheat pasta and veggies are all good protein-rich swaps. Not ready to nix meat altogether? Start by trying three vegetarian dinners a week for a month to allow your tastebuds to adjust. (Trust us, they will--in another weight loss study of new vegetarians versus low-fat dieters, a third more of the vegetarians had stuck with the diet a year later.) Courtesy of AOL Health

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Recipes...

Veggie Fajitas
Roast a platter of onions, red peppers, green peppers, portabella mushrooms, carrots, and cauliflower at 400* for 45 minutes – make sure the veggies are cut to the same thickness 11/2 to 2 inches thick. Sprinkle the onions and portabellas with fajita dry seasoning.
Warm organic Spelt tortillas (Trader Joes) in the microwave with one ounce of 2% cheddar or Mexican blend cheese.
Wrap roasted veggies in warm cheesy tortillas. Add light sour cream, avocado, and salsa.

Favorite Spinach
Steam raw spinach then sauté quickly with the juice of ½ lemon, 1 clove garlic, 1 tablespoon sour cream, and 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Hummus Sandwich
2 slices of Ezekiel sprouted bread toasted spread with hummus. Top with tomato slices drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Optional top with bean sprouts.

Easy Breezy Taco’s
Heat one can of Progresso seasoned black beans.
Heat one package of taco shells.
Serve with avocado slices, salsa, 2% cheese, low fat sour cream, and diced green onions and tomatoes.
Substitute whole grain tortilla chips for a nacho version…

Bread pudding stripped!
5 slices of Ezekiel spouted whole grain raisin bread or plain (I use half and half); to this add a handful of raisins (to taste).
Tear bread into bite sizes and place in the bottom of a baking pan that has been lightly sprayed with a cooking spray.
Heat to a boil one cup of skim or 2% milk and one cup of rice dream milk – let cool enough to be able to add the milk to eggs and not cook them.
In a separate bowl add ¾ cup of Egg Beaters, ½ cup of maple syrup or honey, and one teaspoon of apple pie spice. Mix well then pour in cooled milk.
Dump milk and egg mixture over the bread and bake at 350 for one hour.

Vegetable soup – the short cut!
Two boxes of V-8’s Tomato Herb soup
One bag of frozen mixed veggies
½ bag of frozen chopped onions
½ bag of frozen southern style potatoes (diced)
One box of organic vegetable broth
One teaspoon of garlic salt
One teaspoon of Adobe seasoning
One teaspoon of sea salt
Pepper to taste
Dump all of the above in a large pot or crock pot and simmer as long as possible! The minimum time should be one hour.

Eggplant Parmesan Lite
Mix two tablespoons of parmesan cheese with one teaspoon of whole wheat bread crumbs.
Thinly slice one medium eggplant (we are talking paper thin and as uniformly as possible) and sprinkle with parmesan mix, salt and pepper, top with a few shreds of 2% mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.
Place finished eggplant over cooked pasta and top with your favorite sauce.
This should top two or three servings of pasta.

Spinach and Artichoke pasta
Steam a frozen package of spinach
Drain, pat dry, and chop a small jar of marinated artichokes
Mix the artichokes with the steamed spinach in a pan with the juice of one half of a lemon and heat through.
Serve over multi grain pasta with your favorite red sauce!

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