Dinner Last Night

My sister and her husband are up from Maryland visiting, and last night I made dinner for us and my husband. Somehow it ended up looking (and, I think, tasting) like quite the gourmet meal! I wanted to share what I did - no recipes, no exact measurements, which is how I usually cook - just throw it all together and hope for the best! Those of you who are pros in the kitchen (I may know a fair amount, but I'm no professional chef), please feel free to offer some tips as you see fit. :)

Stuffed Butternut Squash
I cooked about 1.5 cups of spelt berries in my rice cooker and added that about the same amount of leftover brown rice from the previous night. In a pan with olive oil, I combined fresh sage and parsley (growing in my kitchen), 4 medium celery stalks, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, 2 scallions, 1 shallot, garlic and a little salt - all finely chopped (heavy on the sage). Let that cook for 6-7 minutes then added the rice/spelt combination and heated for another 5 minutes.

In the meantime, at 400 degrees, I quartered a large butternut squash, cleaned out the seeds and baked on a baking pan for 30 minutes. I then took the rice mixture and scooped it on/in the four pieces of squash.

Greens
Simple - sauteed swiss chard and beet greens in a little olive oil and ended up adding a bit of water too - tossed in the pot and cooked about 5 minutes.

Beets
I don't usually cook beets the "proper" way, but instead peeled 3 medium beets, sliced into coins and boiled in water for about 10 minutes. Let them cool, then sprinkled some goat cheese, candied pecans and olive oil on top.

Falafel
These were not homemade and probably not necessary, because the rest was plenty of food, but they are so tasty. Plus, I wanted my sister and brother-in-law to try them. You can buy falafel patties or mini patties in the freezer section. I get the Papou's Kitchen brand (from Portland). I simply sauteed two minis per person in a pan with olive oil, a few minutes on each side.

That was it! I will post some photos later on, because my camera is not with me at the moment. Happy Friday!

Creamy Broccoli Soup

This recipe is a yummy and healthier alternative to a traditional cream of broccoli soup. There's no dairy and contains two essential foods: whole grains and green veggies. All real, whole food goodness, and it's super easy to make! Husband tested and approved! It's located on the Institute for Integrative Nutrition website, where you can also find dozens of wonderful recipes that are simple and of course, nutritious!

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Those Crazy Carbs!

Carbohydrates. That's a word, like "fat," that many of us have learned to fear or at least be somewhat perplexed about. I often have questions from individuals I work with about carbs and how should they be a part of our diets. Are carbs good? Are they bad? What exactly are they anyway?

Carbohydrates are in most of the foods we eat, from candy to vegetables. We've learned to avoid all carbs, but we need carbohydrates for optimal health and energy! What we really should be doing is eating complex carbs and avoiding simple carbs. Most simple carbohydrates are highly processed foods with refined sugars and little nutritional value - many pastas, cookies, cakes, breads, crackers and cereals. These foods do not provide us with lasting energy because they are low in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are the carbs we want to eat! These carbs appear in nature - our whole foods - such as vegetables and whole grains like brown rice. Yes, these foods are carbs too! These foods should make up the majority of our diets because they are nutrient-rich and provide lasting energy. The problem is that many of us are eating carbs that have been denatured and deformed instead of whole foods.

With the New Year comes resolutions to lose weight, stick to certain diets and avoid certain foods. So often we fall short of these diet-focused resolutions, and it's not because of lack of will power or dedication. The truth is dieting in general is hard work and certainly not the natural way to eat! Trying to cut out certain foods from your diet is a difficult task and very rarely can any of us permanently stick to a diet plan such as low carb, low fat, no protein, etc.

One of the strategies I focus on is slowly adding in foods that are healthier choices rather than trying to omit not-so-healthy foods. Eventually, these healthier foods "crowd out" the processed, sugar-filled, chemicalized foods...often without you even realizing it's happening! And, rather than focusing on the carbs, fat, protein and calories - which is a horribly difficult, frustrating and unnatural way to be eating for any period in your life - why not focus on adding in a variety of local, organic whole foods? Perhaps it means adding one single food in at a time, but making a small change such as this is a habit that will actually stick!

American culture has learned in the past few decades to focus on what experts call "nutritionism." This is the ideology that food is replaced by nutrients. We are told to worry about how much of each vitamin and mineral we are getting (get your calcium! take an iron supplement!), eat more antioxidant-rich foods, eat lower fat foods and so on. This shifts our focus from food and nature to nutrients and science...and this is not a natural or healthy way to be eating. It seems the more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we become - something food expert Michael Pollan, calls the American Paradox. Doesn't that seem odd? Our ancestors certainly didn't count calories or take a multi-vitamin, and in many ways they were much healthier as a nation than we are.

This is all a large part of the foundation for my health coaching and why I feel so strongly that what many of us (including myself) have been hearing for so long is completely backwards. Figuring out what to eat should not be so complicated and doesn't have to be! Can you imagine actually eating guilt-free and with the satisfaction of knowing that you are making smart, natural decisions for you and your family? It's time to throw that No Carb/Low Carb/Low Fat/No Fat/Calorie Counting stuff out the window! Trust me - you don't need it!!

Rice Cooker

If you don't have a rice cooker, I highly recommend that you make the small investment. I bought mine at Target, but they can be found anywhere kitchen gadgets are sold. They make cooking your whole grains so much easier. For those of you working with me, you know how important it is to include whole grains in your diet - brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, barley, amaranth - the list goes on! However, these grains do take longer to cook and you really do have to watch the pot to make sure nothing boils over or dries out. That is where the rice cooker comes in. You simply measure your grains and water with the measuring cup provided with the cooker, add to the pot, cover, push a button and let it go! No need to keep an eye on it, and usually it takes less time to cook.

For instance, this morning, I combined millet, steel cut oats and amaranth in my little rice cooker, added water and let it do the work while I hopped in the shower, got dressed and ready for my day. I came downstairs to the wonderful smell of my grains, ready to eat...just scoop some in a bowl and add real maple syrup, cinnamon, nuts, berries, dried fruit, coconut - whatever you like. This is a pretty common breakfast for my husband and me. It's also a great way to prepare whole grains, like brown rice, for dinner.

Try to steer away from processed pastas and breads and include some more whole grains in your diet - get yourself a rice cooker and you'll see how easy it is!