Fad Diets - Too Many to Count

I have literally tried every fad diet known to this modern day world.  Atkins when I was about 20 - No carb eat protein - Gluten Free - Sugar Free - Weight Watchers - Weigh Down Workshop - Paleo - etc... etc... etc...

Some take aways from those have been good.  I do know that wheat truly does make my life more difficult - I have tried every way in the world for that not to be the case - but it is.  I do know that sugar is not my friend (even though I love it so much) - and I am slowly coming to the conclusion that a Vegan diet isn't so bad.

In his book The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World John Robbins states:

Mostof the diets (fad diets) are deficient in major nutrients, such as dietary fiber and carbohydrates, as well as in specific vitamins, minerals, and protective phytochemicals.

Diet is a funny topic in groups.  We are passionate about what we believe about food.  For me I decided to do what I did when I wanted to be a teacher.  I knew I had to go to college and gain the knowledge of teaching.  My parents were teachers - that could have been enough for me to teach.  But let's be honest - going to college gave me more opportunities to learn and more knowledge.  Same with food.  I went to college to learn.  And while some may not agree with the science - I am confident that what I learned will not harm.  

Some recipes to try:

Juicing is just simply fun.  We have a a masticating juicer.  I cannot always find organic apples that are good enough for juicing - so I juice all the other things (carrots & spinach pictured here) then add some store bought apple juice.  

Fruit Crisp is so good this time of year.  I love the pears, apples, and cranberries!  This recipe was originally a peach crisp but it adapted quite well with the fruit I wanted to use.  Complete recipe at the end of the blog. 

This is a picture of roasted radishes!!  Such a great way to eat a radish.  Just slice, drizzle a little olive oil, some sea salt, and roast at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes - check to see if the radishes are turning pink.  Really good on a burrito bowl too!

I cook beans every week.  We have really enjoyed eating beans and they can certainly be cooked to perfection without animal protein!  We use our spices & nutritional yeast plus many times I will add vegetable broth when cooking.  I cook the beans in the Instant Pot.

There are many great things about eating a Whole Food, Plant Based Diet.  It is worth a try.  Our goal has been to cut our animal protein intake by 2/3.  So now instead of eating animal protein 3x a day - we aim for 1x a day at the most.  For me personally - I honestly feel physically better if I limit animal protein to 1x a week.  

I will continue to share food and diet information within this Mimi4Three blog.  After all it is because of those 3 and their families and future families that I started down this pathway.  I simply want to be healthy and enjoy their families for a long, long time!

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Recipe:

Peach Berry Crisp (link is to the original recipe)

Mimi's Fall Crisp

Mix together & place in a greased 8x8 baking dish

5 cups of sliced pears, sliced apples, & cranberries

3 T pure maple syrup

2 T cornstarch

1 T orange juice

Mix together & pour on top of the fruit mixture

1 cup of old fashioned oats (I use gluten free)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 T coconut oil (I used about 6T)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes until the oats are brown.  

Burrito Bowl - Our Way

Cilantro Lime Rice (see below)
Chicken - cooked & cubed (we used thighs)
Green Bell Pepper
Onion
Extra toppings - sour cream, cheese, avocado, hot sauce, lettuce, tomatoes

Cilantro Lime Rice
Honestly I "borrowed" the recipe from another blog (see end of this entry).  We did a couple of things differently but either one will work just fine!

Cook in an instant pot on manual setting for 22 minutes:
2 cups of Basmati Rice with
2 1/2 cups of water (or 1 cup water, 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth)
Let the rice release steam naturally while you are getting other parts finished

Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice green bell pepper and onion and put in an iron skillet and roast in the oven with some olive oil and sea salt.  If you cooked your chicken on Sunday to have throughout the week - add it to the vegetables when they have cooked - just long enough to heat the chicken.   You could also splash some chicken broth in the skillet too.

Cilantro Lime Rice - continued

In the food processor - combine
2 cups of fresh spinach
1/2 bunch of cilantro,
juice of 2 limes, and about
2 teaspoons of minced garlic.
Cumin seasoning (about 1 tsp - I just sprinkled over the top)
Combine long enough that is smooth and will pour into your rice.  You could add olive oil if needed - but I did not have to.

After the rice is finished and has let off some of the steam - combine rice with the sauce.  Add some more cumin and stir together.  Your rice will be green!

To make the bowl - we had rice on the bottom with the chicken & veggies on top then added the other toppings.

Easy - and will compete with Chipotle any day!!!

Mimi & Pop's Burrito Bowl with Chicken & Cilantro Lime Rice

Instant Pot setting on Manual for 22 minutes - I LOVE to cook rice in the Instant Pot!!!

Yes the Rice will be green!  It is a great way to get more vegetables into your diet!!

Here is a link to the original recipe for Cilantro Lime Rice.

Go and eat your bread in happiness. Drink your wine with a happy heart. For God has already been pleased with your works.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

One of my Favorite wines (today...) - from my friends at Times Ten Cellars in Dallas - link below....

Times Ten Cellars - one of the BEST parts is that they will ship directly to you!  The Sangiovese is amazing!

Pasta Primavera - GF & DF

This recipe is in a gluten free & diary free translation but of course it can be made the other way too! Very easy recipe and quick too.  Feel free to add other vegetables - mushrooms would be good as well as other colors of bell peppers.

Roast at 400 degrees in an iron skillet about 10 minutes:

Sliced carrots (small bag of the mini peeled but in half)

Then add the following for about 5 minutes:

Coarsely chopped bell pepper (one large green pepper)
Coarsely chopped onion (one onion)

Then finally:

Sliced squash & zucchini (one of each)

Meanwhile - cook your noodles.  We had a GF corn pasta from HEB.  Any bow tie or egg noodle pasta will work.

As for sauce - I created a light sauce with chicken broth & corn starch.  Cream cheese would be awesome in a non dairy free world!  As for the corn starch sauce - just follow the directions on a can of corn starch for a white type gravy and make it a little thinner.

The reason I cooked the vegetables in stages was to get them all cooked just right.  Carrots will take the longest - plus I was prepping the other vegetables as I cooked the others in stages.

We added cooked chicken to our pasta dish too.

Enjoy!