Diet Modifications Update

In addition to the changes I realized I needed to make, as described in my post a couple weeks ago, I recently decided to cut down my meat consumption even more (previous to this I consumed meat only at dinner time pretty much every day except Monday- "Meatless Monday"). And I've also decided to include all animal products in my definition of "meat"; so that includes eggs and dairy. It have heard from several sources that animal protein is really not ideal for humans and has been linked with cancer and heart disease- regardless of cholesterol content; the form of protein itself promotes these diseases in humans! Here is a really short citation of studies related to animal protien consumption and disease. And, Here is the website of Dr. Fuhrman, who I saw on PBS after I watched a documentary citing the works of 2 other doctors who found the same evidence. Look at his food pyramid!
I had, in my own diet, cut out all dairy except the occasional sprinkle of cheese or ice cream treat. I had given my girls coconut or almond milk before when we were out of cow's milk and they were not opposed to it, so I decided NOT to buy a half gallon organic cows milk this week and instead an extra container of almond milk. They are fine with it! I also announced we were going on a "Meatless Monday, Wednesday, Friday" diet. This has been a little trickier. They did not care for my TVP "meetloaf".... if at first you don't succeed, try try again! And I will keep trying and experimenting with new recipes until I find several that will keep my kids happy those 3 nights per week. I also declared they can only have school lunch 2 times per week (the school lunches are utterly deplorable!) so I printed out the calendar and let them choose their 2 days at the beginning of the week.  They are getting sick of tuna fish, are not allowed to bring PB&J to school because of children with peanut allergies and rejected my substitute of "Sunbutter" (sunflower seed butter). Thinking of finding a good tofu salad recipe; they love tofu. I tried to explain the changes to my eldest and encouraged her to research for herself, she refuses, she's just pissed at me and cited these dietary changes as the reason she's dorming at WCSU next year.... so be it. She literally said to me, "I'm too old to make these kind of changes now, it's too late".... LOL.
So, beyond that, how did I incorporate more ginger, turmeric, garlic, green tea, etc into my diet? Well to start with I made a potent ginger tea using grated ginger (then some sliced because grating ginger gets really tiring!) and lemons- simmer together for about 10 minutes then let cool and poured into ice cube trays. I brewed a concentrated green tea, then diluted it into a pitcher of filtered water, put that in the fridge. So a couple times/day I'll have iced green tea using a couple of my ginger tea ice cubes. Has green tea replaced my morning coffee? Not yet.... that's a hard one I love my morning coffee, but it has replaced coffee on the couple evenings per week that I work till 9:30. And over all I feel much better and have more energy so don't feel like I need the coffee on those nights so much anymore. I incorporated turmeric, ginger and garlic in a couple soups I made; sautee assorted veggies (including thin sliced ginger and garlic) in coconut oil then add (vegetarian) chicken broth, sea salt, some lentils and a crap load of turmeric, curry powder and a little cayenne pepper and simmer for about 45minutes... yum!! If you like Indian food you gotta try that, hits the spot, and clears your sinuses too!
I'm really excited about going back to school in 6 weeks; I've been reading about Health Coaching and thinking about the possibilities. I would love to work under a ND, helping clients make these types of lifestyle changes. I think it takes more than handing someone a diet plan; people need one on one assistance in the grocery store and at home if they have been used to living a typical American lifestyle this stuff will seem very foreign to them. Will be sharing some of the stuff I'm learning right here, stay tuned :)
Miss Z

My little girls on their wheels

Cute picture of Jada riding her bike. Cory is really into this photo effects application, made this look like an old photo from the 60's.

And here's my Zoie, just learned to ride on 2 wheels in May and I think she'll need a new bike by next summer!

Aches and Pains

I have not been feeling well lately and it's been really hard to place my finger on exactly why. I've just been feeling old and crappy; specifically neck and back pain, nausea, fatigue, etc. Really vague symptoms until last night when my left foot blew up, seemingly due to being at my feet all afternoon/evening the night before at a concert but I have a gut feeling it's more than that. My mother has long suffered (mildly, like I seem to be) from inflammation/immune related nuisances, and whatever gene that is I definitely think I acquired it, unfortunately. I have allergies, asthma and seem to be increasingly sensitive to dietary and environmental triggers. It's frustrating because I feel I take better care of myself through diet and exercise than about 80% of most American's do, yet I'm still feeling crappy. Guess I gotta do more!
So before I set out to go shopping today I looked up some information on "Anti-Inflammation". Apparently this was made popular by Dr. Weil, I had never really looked into it, but I found it to be dead on with what I already know instinctively and through experience about the basics of a healthy diet. To see Dr. Weil's anti-inflammatory diet food pyramid click here.

Main things I realize I need to do: 1) Switch from coffee in the morning to green tea (whaaa) 2) Limit my alcohol to only 1-2 glasses of red wine per day (bye bye beer and cocktails) and 3) Find way's to incorporate even more healthy spices in my diet such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper,etc.  Thinking bout how I can do this without having to spend too much more time on a daily basis on food prep.  My goal for coming week is to figure this out! Ideas to follow, stay tuned!!

Garden Season Comes to a Close

It's mid September now and many of our veggie babies are aged and dying :(
Bye bye snap peas, you were so adorable and tasty my kids could eat you every day. So long cucumbers, you made amazing bread and butter pickles and summer squash oh how I loved shredding raw, sauteing or stuffing you.... till we meet again, next year!
On the other hand, I still have tons of unripe tomatoes, peppers just starting to produce and green beans growing out of my ears!! #1 yield-er again this year; Green Beans, first prize! I have 5 ziplock bags full of blanched, frozen green beans already in my freezer and I'm still picking a basketful every day. Still haven't done any canning but I may break down and do it if those tomatoes ever ripen, then maybe I'll can up some three bean salad, my freezer is getting full.
Here's what I picked today (9/13/11)

You also see here some herbs (my basil basically came back from the dead, have no idea how or why) and Calendula flowers I've been picking to make Calendula oil; very good for the skin and I plan to make some type of ointment out of it. The red kale (underneath) was a great crop; just kept cutting the leafs when they got large and they just kept growing more. But all my greens are phasing out now. Since our winter squash has mostly been picked, and weren't all that impressive anyway, I imagine the next pictures you'll see will be the start of next years garden (sigh) :)