Vegetarian or Vegan Stuffed Peppers

I get a lot of requests for Meatless Monday recipes so this is one of my favorites that I love to share!  The meal pictured here is vegetarian because I included Parmesan cheese, but you could absolutely make it vegan by omitting the cheese, or make it with beef should you want to eat meat.  Any way you choose, this recipe is great to clear the fridge and pantry of leftover items! Below is a loose recipe I created hastily during a weeknight. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Bell Peppers, seeded and sliced in half through the center (it's easier to stuff them this way)

Rice, or rice and beans combo, cooked

1 medium red onion or white onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 bag of frozen spinach, thaw it by putting in colander and running warm water over it-then squeeze out water after thawed with your hands

1/4 to 1/2 cup of canned pureed tomatoes 

Parmesan cheese

salt/pepper

cumin

paprika

ground mustard

chili powder

Method:

Cook your rice according to the package.  You could use this...

...which is what I used. This way you get the complete protein combo (not that you need it, but still) of the rice and the beans in addition to the seasonings.  If you are limiting your sodium, you could use just plain basmati rice and the seasonings I listed above.  Either way, cook this first. 

While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Then, slice the peppers in half through the stem and take out the seeds.  After the peppers are emptied, put them in a large casserole dish and fill the dish with a little bit of veggie stock or carrot juice or tomato juice or anything that can impart flavor into the peppers.  Cover the dish with foil and pop the peppers into the oven for about 20 minutes.  This will make them softer and easier to fill. 

If the rice finishes before you've gotten the veggies cooked and ready just set it aside until you need it!  Same goes for the peppers.  Next, pour a little canola oil in a pan (or you can skip it if you want to avoid oil) and add the onions and carrots.  Saute them for about 5 minutes on medium high heat until they are softened a bit.    (Add beef here and cook until browned if you are making with meat.)  Then, add any seasonings you want, the spinach and the tomato puree.  Stir well and cook for a minute or two.  Then add rice and mix well.  The mixture should be the consistency you'd want it to be inside the peppers! If not, add wine or more tomato puree until it is.  Then add Parmesan cheese to taste.

Once you've pulled the empty peppers out of the oven it's time to stuff them.  Take your finished rice mixture and stuff it in there.  Then sprinkle a little more cheese on top (optional).  Throw the peppers back in the oven uncovered for about 30 mins, then serve! 

This is a great make-ahead meal as you could complete all the steps except the final one, ahead of time! Hope you enjoy :).

Thinking of Eating More Veggies or Ditching Dairy Altogether? Here's how to start!

Ways to Jump-Start Your Vegetarian or Vegan Eating Habits

Eating healthy doesn't always have to involve cutting out FLAVOR from your diet, while cutting out meat and/or dairy.  The above dishes are completely vegan (no meat or dairy/eggs) and no oil!  We were able to make those cheaply, quickly and most of all tastefully using some great tips I'd like to share.  

There are a million books on the subject, so if you'd like to take the time I'd read any written by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. T. Colin Campbell.  

Rip Esselstyn and I at my "Forks Over Knives" pre-screen

All are amazing inspirations with backgrounds and science to support their health claims.  If you don't have the time to read those books, or want to supplement their info, this blog post is for you.  I get countless requests for help on how to transition a family's diet over to one that minimizes or eliminates meat and/or dairy.  So I've put together a "starter kit" to help you all navigate through the first few weeks.  They are undoubtedly the hardest, but you can do it, and it is absolutely worth it.

On a side note-if you are wanting to know more about why we are cutting meat and/or dairy out of our diets for health, that is in a different blog post and also in my "Basics…" section, along with a book called "The China Study."  Please see any of those places to get a better understanding of why making these changes will optimize your health.

Revamp Your Kitchen and Pantry

Changing foods means changing gears, literally sometimes.  If you don't have the proper tools to help you cut or prep veggies and execute recipes, you are going to be one miserable and HUNGRY person.  So let's make sure you have the essentials.  And PS, this may sound like it will cost you a fortune, but you will actually SAVE MONEY once you transition into your new lifestyle because you'll be buying in bulk and eating lots of yummy leftovers.

For actual appliances and cookware you'll need the following:

-Blender, preferably a really great one like a Vitamix
-Food processor, or food chopper
-Sharp knives
-Peeler
-Colander
-Good pots and pans

Now let's tackle your pantry. I spent countless hours developing this stuff for Whole Foods Market when I worked there as a Healthy Eating Specialist.  I'd be silly not to utilize those amazing resources we created.  So here is a link to an amazing website with a lot of the info I'm giving you below, and much more.

Pantry/Freezer Staples:

-A variety of cans of no-salt-added, BPA-free beans.  I love Eden Organic and usually stock pinto, garbanzo, kidney, black and navy beans.
-Whole grains stored in glass jars.  So buy a package of each of the following: old fashioned oats, quinoa, brown rice and barley.
-Whole wheat pasta. Always just keep a pound or two on hand.
-Whole wheat tortillas.
-Ground flaxseed. Store in fridge so they stay good longer.
-Canned Tomatoes. It sucks because these are a necessity but it's hard to find them without BPA in the can and tomatoes are particularly susceptible for absorption.  Go organic and do the best you can here, but I usually buy at least two big cans.
-Low-sodium vegetable broth. You really can't have enough. I usually get a package of the little 1-cup containers as well as a few bit containers.
-Almond milk.  A couple of boxes of unsweetened almond milk will work wonders for you and is better than soy and rice milk nutritionally because it has more absorbable calcium and won't contain arsenic (rice) or nutrients that turn into estrogen in your body (soy).
-Tahini. This is just ground sesame seeds and is amazing for making homemade hummus and adding flavor to things.
-Peanut Butter. Unsalted. A few jars kept in the pantry, not fridge please.
-Nutritional yeast.  They are yellow flakes that are made from yeast and they taste and look like cheese when cooked! Yum! Find them in the bulk section or the organic section of your supermarket.
-Raw nuts. Unsalted, roasted if you want.  I usually get cashews, almonds, pistachios and macadamia nuts.
-Dried apricots, dates and raisins. Un-sulfered and unsweetened.
-Dijon mustard.
-Salsa. A great, flavorful one.
-Soy sauce. Low sodium.
-Frozen hash browns. Unsalted.
-Frozen fruit. Unsweetened organic. Get whatever you like!
-Frozen spinach.
-Spices. Freshen up those spices that have been sitting in your kitchen for a decade. Seriously.  Get some new ones like ground mustard, paprika, cayenne, cumin, black pepper, rosemary, thyme…you get the picture.

Ok I'm sure I probably left out some things but these are items you always want to have on hand in addition to the fresh veggies and fruits you'll be buying regularly.  Now you may need to shop more to keep fresh produce in your house, but you'll be spending less because you'll only be buying a few items each time, rather than doing big shops. Make sense?

Now that we've got your kitchen set up it's time to change out those same seven recipes you cycle through (you are not alone!) each week to healthier options.  I'm posting a few go-to breakfasts, lunches and dinners that I use that will make your new eating habits not only healthy, but quick and easy. Most of the recipes are linked below but if not, I'll post them in future blogs! All recipes are vegan because I figure if you are not vegan, you will just add cheese or meat to the recipe where you want to.

Basic Breakfast Recipes-Click here for a week-long guide I posted a while ago

Breakfast Burrito
Oatmeal
Pancakes
Vegan French Toast
Cereal with Fruit
Whole Wheat Toast with Nut Butter

Lunch Recipes

Tomato/Avocado Sandwich
Soup and Salad
PBJ
Veggie Sushi
Chili

Dinner Recipes

Veggie Stir-fry
Pasta with Veggies
Vegan Stuffed Shells
Veggie Paella
Quinoa Tacos
Vegan Lentil Burgers 

I gave quite a few links and recipes to try above.  Please let me know your thoughts, questions and challenges. I hope this helps!

Clear Out Your Cupboards Chili!

Simple Pantry Chili!

As we all continue to hibernate (or many of us anyway), I thought it might be nice to post a standard chili recipe (there is a great butternut squash/kale recipe in a recent previous post) that you can make without leaving your home AND that's packed with IRON, FIBER, PROTEIN, CALCIUM and tons of other vitamins and minerals.  It's also made in one pot, with about 5 minutes of prep and little babysitting! I was able to fold the laundry while this cooked.  And if you still needed another reason to make this-it tastes even better then next day! 

Ingredients (and remember use what's in your pantry-substitute where necessary)

1 onion, diced
2 small sweet peppers, diced
1 can unsalted kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can unsalted black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can unsalted navy beans (drained and rinsed)
1 14 oz can of organic crushed tomatoes (i used fire roasted)
1 lb ground organic beef (can be left out-i just had some on hand)
2 Tbsp chili powder
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of cumin
pinch of garlic powder

Method

Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan (like a tsp) and add the onions, peppers and spices.  Saute for a few minutes until translucent, then add beef.  Saute on medium until browned.  Add beans and can of tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 mins covered. DONE!

I added hand-grated cheddar cheese because my son loves it, but feel free to leave out both the meat and cheese for a vegan delight! You can add avocado instead! 

Hope you enjoy this great weeknight meal!

Use the leftovers to make fantastic breakfast burritos or as a topper for nachos at snack time!

Snowy Day Recipe for You AND Your Kids! (or just you)

On snowy days like today, you can fight off boredom, give your kids an interactive and fun activity AND enjoy a tasty treat that will last you days with the following recipe.

They are Homemade and Healthy Granola Bars that use only the ingredients pictured here. That's it!!! I didn't even have to run to the store! I had this all in the pantry so it cost me NOTHING! If you were to buy these ingredients, it'd probably cost you about $10, but it would give you ingredients to make several other things or several batches of granola bars!

These are way cheaper, healthier and tastier than store-bought bars. Here's how you do it. Oh and **PARENTS** please let your kids do this. They can and should get their hands dirty with this recipe! Also, this is just a base recipe-make it your own. Mix in things you love to enhance and change it to keep it interesting!

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas-use what you've got, but they need to be soft so they can be mushed

2 cups of old fashioned oats-they can be rolled or steel cut JUST NOT QUICK

shredded coconut

dates, pitted and chopped

vegan chocolate chips (or if you dig regular ones use regular)

walnuts, chopped

cinnamon

nutmeg

***Notice there is no sugar added to this recipe!! This means you and your family can enjoy the natural sugars found in the real fruits used for these bars. Refined sugars are bad because they cause blood sugar level spikes that can make you tired and hungry faster, when you actually aren't. They also offer little value nutrition-wise but cause you to pack on pounds. With fruit, you get the natural sugars packed with nutrients AND fiber which allows you to feel full, absorb the nutrients and flush out (pun intended!) the toxins in your body. Win-win here!***

The above picture is of pitted dates. You find fresh dates in the produce section of your grocery store. They are a fruit, so they come with pits. Make sure they are somewhat soft to the touch when you buy them because then they are more easily incorporated. These will be your most expensive ingredient. If you don't want to use them-simply substitute a little applesauce (with no added sugars or weird things in the ingredients) to keep the sweetness up. Dates are great for any recipe, smoothie, whatever, where you need to add sweet flavor without sugar! In my eyes, a pantry staple!

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Put all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix them up, by hand, until all the oats are coated with the banana. It should be a mushy, wet-ish mixture. See below.

Then spread into a casserole dish that you would use for something like brownies. You'll spread them in the pan as you would brownies too-flat and even and covering the bottom.

Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes. The cool thing with this recipe is that there is not raw meat or dairy in it so LET YOUR KIDS LICK THEIR FINGERS! Let them eat some of the "batter" if they want. These bars only need to cook to keep them together so just when you start smelling them, check on them and they can probably come out. Mine were done today in about 20 minutes. It just depends on how thick you make them. Also note, in the picture to the right, how much cleanup work this recipe takes. WOW, washing that one bowl and spatula is going to be tough. LOL.

This is a no brainer! Once the bars come out-let them cool for about 5 minutes so they are more easily cut. But if you can't wait-go at it-they just won't be pretty. This recipe takes only 10 minutes of active work, which you can draw out with your kids if you want-but then the rest is oven time. Awesome huh?

And just for kicks-let's analyze a popular granola bar favorite that appears to be healthy shall we? Yes.


Ok so forget the Nutrition "Facts" for now because I haven't been able to chat with you about how to read that yet and let's focus on the ingredients.

The first ingredient is great-oats. Ok, then...well, sugar. Not good. Then, canola oil-a fatty, nutrient-less food. Then, corn flour-a binder perhaps? Unecessary and certainly void of nutrients because of how processed it is. Then, OH LOOK, more sugar-this time it's brown which means the white sugar was mixed with molasses.

Still no nutrients or flavor-just sugar.

At this point you can stop hoping for some type of real food ingredient because the top 3 to 5 ingredients are the ones that count-they are the ones that make up most of the food. And as we can see here, these "granola bars" are just sugar in bar form. Lovely.

Instead-how about feeding your body and your kids' bodies something nutritious that was made at home and is packed with real food like oats, bananas and dates. Worth it? Yes.

Moderation is for the Birds...

Moderation...

We hear this all the time. Someone will say to me "I just ate a cheeseburger, do you want one?" and I say something like "No thank you, I don't eat cheeseburgers but I hope you enjoy it!" I could just say "No thank you," but it is usually followed by a parade of questions so I just try to keep things simple and honest. Can you tell by my posts yet?

This type of conversation usually ends up with the person wrapping things up by saying everything in moderation...blah, blah, blah.

I have a HUGE problem with this ambiguous word. What does it mean to you? Probably something different than what it means to me. And it would be no big deal except that we seem to be killing ourselves with moderation.

Let's use an example here shall we? We shall. Say you drink 3 diet cokes a day and eat a breakfast of eggs and bacon, a turkey sandwich with chips for lunch and a dinner of steak and a baked potato with maybe a veggie. Seems like a pretty standard diet for a lot of folks, folks I know...folks who are even in my family. So moderation to them may mean cutting back to only 1 diet coke a day and having cake once every month. Ok-so where does that leave them? STILL with high cholesterol, blood pressure and an increasing waisteline. YES? Yes.

Because the bottom line is that if you have a fundamental problem with your eating habits and you only make surface level changes-you will only see surface level changes if anything at all. Eating a diet rich in sodium, cholesterol, fat and sugar is still a diet rich in all those things whether you only eat cake in moderation or not.

So I say SCREW MODERATION. Yes. screw it. Instead, if you are looking for serious change in your diet, and consequently your health-you need to make fundamental changes in what you eat...then moderate.

For example, if you eat a diet rich in fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, seeds and grains you have a healthy base of meals to work from and are protecting yourself against many of the chronic diseases plaguing America today (obesity, Type II diabetes, Heart Disease, etc.) on a daily basis. Therefore eating a cheeseburger, piece of cake or, in my case a chicken finger sub, once a week or so probably won't kill you. Eating that stuff daily probably will. This is healthy moderation if you want to call it that. Making sure that 23 of your last 25 meals are healthy so you can enjoy the taste of a cheeseburger on your cheat day.

Don't settle for moderation or try to justify your bad eating habits with one word. Instead, understand your self worth and try to rise above moderation's mediocrity. Pretty please?

When You're Hungry for a Snack...

On a day where you don't feel like leaving the house (in my case because of my snow) and you are having people over, or you just plain need a healthy snack, you can still create this pretty, yummy and nutritious treat for cheap!

I also bring this to parties a lot because it looks a whole lot better than just bringing a plate of veggies with some hummus. The picture to the left is actually from one of my Healthy Eating Supper Clubs that I hosted at Whole Foods Market in Fort Collins, CO. I served this, to rave reviews, as an appetizer. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

1 english cucumber

1 package of oil-free roasted red pepper hummus (or if you can't find it, make it yourself with recipe below!)

1 cup of raw cashews (toasted if you are feeling ambitious!)

NO JOKE THAT'S IT! I'll tell you how to assemble below and will also give you my recipe for homemade hummus that's to die for, in case you want to keep the "homemade and healthy" thing going on. I highly encourage this because then you can make your hummus without oil.

Method

Wash the english cucumber and cut off the ends. Then peel the cucumber so the skin looks like stripes! Slice into 1/2 or 1/4 inch rounds and spread on a plate. Spoon a heap of roasted red pepper hummus on top of the cucumber slice and garnish with a cashew. Serve! This yummy dish is fresh, healthy and balanced with all the components that make a dish taste great! Try for yourself!

WHY skip the oil?

Because if you look at the label here for Spectrum Olive Oil (it will be pretty much the same label for any olive oil you get), you'll notice that the serving size is only 1 TABLESPOON, and that in that one tablespoon there are 120 calories-all from fat!!! So if you are adding, say 1/4 cup of olive oil to your hummus-that's about 4 tablespoons equalling 480 calories all from fat!!! And you don't even feel full from those calories!

People will argue back and forth about the potential health benefits of olive oil. I'm not here to talk about that. Whatever you believe-fine. HOWEVER-no one can disupte that olive oil is 100% fat and if you are trying to lose weight or be healthier, it is not ideal because again you will be getting calories that won't fill you up. Instead I recommend ditching the calories and getting your fats from whole plant sources (not the extracted ones in this case) to fill you up with nutrients, fiber and the like. You'll see a real difference once you stop cooking like Rachael Ray and Paula Deen. Really! It can be simple if you let it be.

Homemade and Healthy Hummus (no oil in this recipe!)

Ingredients

1 can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed-some of the liquid reserved

lemon juice (from a real lemon, not that funny lemon-shaped squeezie bottle)

1 tbsp horseradish (the kind from the store that doesn't have preservatives)

2 tbsp tahini (which is just crushed sesame seeds-good, healthy fat)

fresh ground pepper

dash of low sodium tamari

dash of cayenne

dash of cumin

dash of paprika

dash of coriander

(add a few roasted red peppers from a jar if you are making the hummus for the dish above)

Directions

Blend all ingredients to taste. You can used the reserved bean liquid to thin out the mixture with flavor (to replace the oil). Remember, taste along the way. Add more spice if it needs it. Enjoy!