Cold Season

When was the last time you caught a cold? More importantly, what was going on in your life just before your last cold?

I used to be a real nudge about the various herbs and preventatives for the common cold. Now, I recommend some things (ginger cold tea) to help with symptoms and boosting health through your cold. But I think people get colds mostly when they are overworked, overtired, overstressed, overwhelmed, and overotherstuff.

When you feel a cold coming, the best thing to do may be to stop and feel what's going on for you. Take a day off right away, sleep, drink water, journal, and reflect. Illness is not a punishment. And it wont' necessarily go away once you *learn your lesson* from it. It's much more complex than that punisher model. But it is telling you quite simply that you are unwell. The feeling of fatigue that accompanies the cold means you should rest.

We are in a culture that supports working through illness. That does not mean you need to. You will be amazed that when you decide firmly that taking care of yourself is a priority and examine why you resist self-nurturance, that your world becomes much more supportive.

Your inner relationship will be mirrored by your outer experience. Actually, it always is, but it would be nice to choose what that looks like.

So this cold season, do your echinacea, your airborne, your sudafed, whatever. But when you get sick anyway, go home and rest. A cold is just a cold but it can be a powerful step to change your inner landscape and ultimately your whole world.

Huevos Rancheros

I thought this recipe was just too obvious, but after talking to some friends who thought had never had it, here it is.

For one person:

1/2 can Amy's vegetarian refried beans
handful of baby spinach
2 eggs poached (or scrambled or fried)
2 T cheese (I use raw goat cheddar)
salsa and fat free sour cream to top

Heat beans and spinach in a small fry pan until hot and remove from heat. Bring beans to the middle of pan. Top gently with poached eggs. Sprinkle on grated cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is melted.

Slide onto plate. Top with salsa and sour cream.

Resources

I decided to post some guides for holiday food shopping.

This has a great chart on the comparison of conventional and organic food prices.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/122/feasts

There is a wealth of information here on organic recipes, nutrition and green living:
http://www.organicauthority.com/

Mothering Magazine has a great website and a great online forum. This is their recipe section for holidays:
http://www.mothering.com/sections/recipes/recipes.html

Holiday Eating

Everyone struggles to stay in healthy eating mode during the holidays. It is easy to keep eating healthy at home where you have all your own choices, but the parties, shopping, and travel make it really challenging. I tried looking up statistics on holiday weight gain and came up with anywhere from 1 pound to 6 pounds in a six week period. The point is that obesity is a huge issue in our culture and weight loss strategies get abandoned at stressful and food focused times.

Exercise
It seems obvious that exercise is important at all time of the year. At the darkest time of the year, our instinct is to hibernate and be less active. To some extent, this is okay, but it's really important to get outside and walk whenever time allows. Even for 10 minutes. We need the sunlight and air. If nothing else, walk on the weekends or shop at outdoor malls. Bundle up and get out there.

I also encourage incorporating activity in your family tradition. Thanksgiving morning after getting that bird or whatever in the oven, go out for a long walk somewhere interesting. It will totally change the day.

Last Christmas Eve, we went for a 7 mile walk on the Coventry bike path with another couple. It was great to spend time with our good friends prior to going to family dinners.

Pick and Choose
Holidays are about being thankful for family and blessings. We love to acknowledge this through giant meals. Be conscious. Take a moment to be truly thankful and then make choices about your eating from that place. Try to focus on a 3/4 plate full of vegetables. Thanksgiving tends to be very starchy. If you're the cook, try adding a giant salad to the list to balance the potatoes, sweet potatoes (no marshmallows please), and stuffing. Turkey and carbs creates a lot of bloating, obviously. I have always felt like this meal would be better digested if eaten in courses instead of all on one plate, but no one likes this idea. Personally, I've come to like turkey but I know I can't digest it with all those carbs so I either just have turkey and veggies or just veggies and carbs. I do love mashed potatoes. Pick and choose your calories. I know it's hard to have self control, but really, knowing and living in your body is just more important than overeating.

Be the Healthy Cook
Leaving the marshmallows off of the sweet potatoes seems an obvious way to reduce ridiculously useless caloric intake, so why do these little nightmares still appear on so many tables in culture where more than half of us are very overweight? Where did this tradition come from anyway?

Regardless of what you think people expect from your holiday dinners, you have some choice about what you cook and how you cook it. It's not just the holiday desserts that get us into trouble. Here are some common fat and calorie filled holiday choices that can and should be avoided:

Green Bean Casserole: The one with the Cream 'O Mushroom soup is around 250 calories per serving.

Cranberry Sauce (Canned): About 200 calories per serving because most have high fructose corn syrup.

Mashed Potatoes: About 200 calories in a half a cup.

Gravy: 100-300 calories per serving depending on how it is made.

A nice white fluffy roll: 150-300 calories depending on how buttery it is.

Apple Pie: Usually around 500 calories per slice.

Roasted Turkey: 8 oz is about 450 calories. I'm not going into deep fat fried turkeys because why bother?

That's just a sampling and keep in mind that these are the calories when you have just one reasonably sized serving. It's an easy 2000-3000 calorie meal when eating just one serving of each, and most eat double that. That's a lot. A whole lot. And you may think, "But it's just one day!" But is it? You eat the leftovers for a few days. And the Thanksgiving just rolls into the whole eating fest of December.

Make Healthy Choices for Cooking and Save Yourself Thousands of Calories

1. No white bread or rolls. Are extra simple carbs really necessary here?
2. Make mashed potatoes with olive oil, garlic, fresh dill, and salt. Are they as creamy? No. And that will be okay. Deep breaths.
3. Sweet potatoes are great all by themselves. Marshmallows are for Boy/Girl Scout Camping Retreats and no where else.
4. Green beans are great lightly sauteed in olive oil and garlic.
5. Stuffing can be made with mostly fruit and vegetables. See below.
6. Salad. Sweet, wonderful, simple salad. And it is one of the few typical Thanksgiving foods that you can make a few hours ahead without using the stove top.
7. Homemade Cranberry Sauce. Berries with a little OJ or apple cider and water. So much better, there's no going back. And this a fruit worth splurging for organic - the pesticide count on these is very high.
8. Make desserts homemade with less butter and sugar. There are great recipes out there.

Stuffing:

I'm not sure how stuffing came to be this all bread event. The store-bought stuffings are about 150 calories prepared per serving (1/2 cup). Making your own with multi-grain or wheat-free bread is not hard. And I prefer one that is more veggies and less bread. Saute leeks (or onions), garlic, celery, carrots, apples, in some olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, sage, etc. Put in bowl with a little fat free broth. Add cubes of toasted bread. I make it about 75% vegetables. The bread just adds texture. Works great inside a turkey or just as a side dish. If you are going to cook it inside a turkey, I would add a bunch of fresh leafed herbs like parsley, sage, and basil.

The Bottom Line

Things have to change in our culture. We are overweight and in total denial of our own responsibility in this fact. I think family and friend gatherings are a great time to work together toward healthy eating. We have to change together.

Kale Chips

These are very popular snacks and are a great way to introduce kale into your world if you are not used to having dark greens.

Break kale leaves off of the stem and into 2 inch leaves approximately.

Put in large bowl. Add olive oil and salt, enough to lightly coat leaves. You can use a good salad dressing instead.

Bake at 350 on a cookie sheet. About 10 minutes. Check them often because they go from being too green to burnt very quickly. They should be thin like potato chips, still mostly green with some brownishness. I bake them on parchment paper which works really well.

Ten Dinners

These dinners are meant as simple, easy, when-I-have-no-time-and-I'm-starving meals.

1. Avacado omelet with salsa on top.
2. Mashed califlower.
3. Salad greens topped with sauteed thinly sliced turnips and cottage cheese.
4. Spinach quesadilla: Fresh spinach in a tortilla with a little cheese cooked lightly in a pan both sides.
5. Baked sweet potato topped with a little turkey bacon and fat free yogurt.
6. Quick chicken soup: Saute onions and garlic in oil, add chicken broth, carrots, celery (whatever veggies you have - even frozen), and chopped chicken. Salt and thyme to taste.
7. Spaghetti Squash with olive oil and parmesan: Just slice squash down the middle and cook in the oven with a little water until the strands are soft. Scoop out of the skin, add oil and cheese to taste.
8. Mexican Lasagne: Layer tortillas, salsa, baby spinach, avacado, cottage cheese or regular cheese. Two thick layers is usually good. Bake until bubbly.
9. Trader Joe's Vegetable Potstickers: Cook as directed and add some tamari and hot sauce.
10. Mush: Sautee garlic, add broccoli, can of beans, cumin. Serve over rice or not.

Ten Snacks

Here are ten easy snacks. Some require a little time the night before. Be sure to measure things that are fats - cheese, nut butters, oil. Just have one serving of a fat at a time. I also will eat a little meat as a snack or hard boiled eggs but I didn't list those here (it's hard to stick to ten).

1. Peeled, sliced cucumbers with a little salt (salt makes them special).
2. Dried mangoes.
3. Two slices of raw goat cheddar cheese.
4. Organic popcorn without stuff on it. Add olive oil and salt yourself.
5. Corn tortilla with fat free cream cheese spread on it, with chopped red peppers.
6. Brown rice cake with almond butter and a little honey.
7. Miso soup. I use a dried mix at work - Just add water. Very satisfying snack.
8. Corn bread. There are very nice organic corn bread mixes which do not add corn syrup and other nasties.
9. Mint-carob covered rice cakes. Poor carob got the bum rap of being thought of as fake chocolate when it is wonderful all on its own.
10. Pirate Booty comes in small snack bags. The size keeps you from eating too much. One bag is only 130 calories.

Ten Breakfasts

Ten Breakfasts, Ten Snacks, Ten Dinners

This is a challenge set forth to me by my inner doctor. It seems like people are really struggle with changing their food because they are at a loss for ideas for what to eat without venturing into a cookbook everyday. The other piece is that we feel like we have to get every healthy item in our bodies everyday. Maybe it would be easier to think of getting in good stuff in total every 3 to 4 days. Our bodies don't process everything in a 24 hour period. Just get a good variety over a week or so and you will be good to go.

Ten Breakfasts:

1. Butternut squash soup: They sell it now in quart containers, organic.
2. Brown rice with raisons and chopped almonds: Left over rice cooked in a little milk or water, add raisons and almonds.
3. Scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese: Just stir in spinach at the end.
4. Turkey and cheese: I just eat with my hands in the car. Who needs bread?
5. Plain, non-fat yogurt with a teaspoon of all fruit: Still less sugar than sugary yogurt.
6. Chicken sauteed with red onions and sliced tart apples (peeled): Just cook all in a bit of olive oil.
7. Potato pancakes with cooked apples and a fried egg: A weekend special with left-over mashed potatoes.
8. Cooked prunes with almonds: Cook prunes and almonds in a bit of water. It sounds gross but it is really good.
9. Mashed avacado with salt and lime.
10. The not-too-sweet smoothie. Blend frozen peaches and berries, add one serving non-fat yogurt or a little creme fraiche.

This post is also known as "If I'm not having milk, what will I put on my cereal?" In other words, milk and cereal are not the greatest of breakfast choices, especially everyday. Variety is good. Even in the morning.

Creamy or Not Tomato Soup

I was on the phone with my friend Amanda, and after hearing the sounds of cooking, she asked me what I was cooking. I said, "Tomato soup or maybe creamy tomato soup." She marveled at my creativity. So it occurred to me that while tomato soup means I feel lazy, it may seem complicated to someone else. Let me share how I make super easy tomato soup (creamy or not).

1 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup vegetable broth
dill
cream

Divide the can of tomatoes in half. Saute chopped garlic in a little olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add half of the tomatoes. Cook a little. Puree in a bullet or blender. Pour back into saucepan and add the other chopped tomatoes. (You could do the whole thing pureed, but the chunks are nice). Add broth, salt, and dill to taste. After it cooks a little you can add a touch of cream (about 1/4 cup) or soy milk.

If you were feeling fancy, you could put a sprig of some fresh herb on it, or some croutons, or a little grated cheese. The nice thing about pureed soups is that you achieve texture without having to thicken anything. When you are making vegetarian soups, this helps create a little more depth I think.

Chicken with Apples

I made this for some friends who are doing the Life Force diet - a very good candida cleanse. So they can't have any sugar, vinegar, or flour.

Chicken:
Marinate organic free range chicken breasts in chicken broth, chopped garlic (about 3 cloves), and Simply Organic's Zesty Marinade (open with care if you use this one - it's spicy and I inhaled it :)). I like to try other marinades - but take some care when you pick them out. There are some nice inexpensive organic ones. With the less natural ones, you run the risk of MSG and hydrogenated oils.

I cook chicken in the broiler about 10 minutes each side.

Apple Sauce:
3-4 cloves garlic chopped
3 apples peeled and chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

Sautee the garlic in olive oil until just starting to cook. Add apples. Stir. Add broth and seasoning. Salt to taste. Cook down a bit. You can puree it or leave it chunky. Serve over the chicken.

Sweet Potato-Broccoli Cakes with Cranberry Sauce

I just made this up tonight and thought I would share. Don't worry too much about amounts - Everything can be adjusted to get the right texture to make good cakes.

Pancakes:
Leeks (one stalk) or 1/2 onion or 3-4 green onions chopped a little
1/2 - 1 crown of broccoli
1 clove garlic
2 small or one large sweet potato - baked or boiled and mashed
1-2 eggs
1T flour (wheat, soy, or rice flour)

Cook the leeks, garlic, and broccoli a bit in some extra virgin olive oil or toasted sesame oil. Place in food processor or bullet until blended. Put broccoli mix in bowl and add mashed sweet potato. Add one egg and flour. Texture should be like very thick pancake batter (lumpy) or like too runny mashed potatoes. Add another egg if necessary. This will make around 3-5 pancakes (enough for 2 people).

Heat up some olive oil (2-3 tablespoons) in a pan. It's ready when a spritz of water sizzles in the oil. Spoon in pancake mix. They just need to brown a bit on each side as everything is fully cooked.

Cranberry Sauce:
1 bag frozen or fresh cranberries
Apple juice or cider (or water)
A little sugar or honey to taste.

Put cranberries in small sauce pan. Add just a bit of juice to start (1/2 cup). Cook on medium heat. When bubbling, turn down to simmer. You may need to add more juice if it looks too thick. If you like it thicker, add a little corn starch. It's done when all the berries have softened and become a part of the sauce.

Taste it. I love the taste of unsweetened cranberry sauce but most people will want it sweeter. Add a little sweetener and keep tasting. It should be tart.

Serve pancakes with sauce and maybe a little sour cream or goat cheese.

Ginger Lemon Cold Tea

I've given out this recipe many times. It is a delicious drink, and when you are stuffy and coughing, it feels wonderful. It works nicely for nausea and morning sickness too.

Ginger root is in the produce section. It is a gnarly looking root, sort of the color of a potato. When selecting it at a grocery store, you want one that doesn't have any fungus or smushed areas. It should be firm and evenly covered with its skin.

Ingredients:
1 large ginger root
8 lemons juiced
water
cayenne pepper
honey

Peel ginger root with a carrot peeler. Grate into a large pot. You can chop it up small, chop in food processor, or just grate with a carrot peeler. Add lemon juice. Add enough water to fill up the pot.

Heat on medium .to a boil, then simmer for at least 20 minutes (or throw it into your crock pot). Ladle into cups straining with a soup strainer. Add cayenne and honey per cup to taste. Not everyone can handle the cayenne. Try it without first. Don't cook the mixture with honey, only add it at the end.

I keep mine in the crock pot on low if I am home sick. Otherwise, store it in the fridge and heat up one cup at a time.

Lots of kids like this mixture if you make it a little less strong by diluting with water and adding more honey.

Enjoy.