turkey burgers
My family’s Whataburger days are OVER!
Well, my work is done. In the last four days, my mother and I navigated through the grocery store, cooked a few healthy meals together and purged the pantry of all foods equivalent to a science experiment. I think tonight I will sleep a little better.
I have been trying to get my family to eat better and off the Whataburger diet for about a year now. Now that it has finally happened I am very relieved!
I think the whole experience was far less painful than we all thought it would be. My family was delighted at how great “health” food was and I was surprised that I didn’t hear too many complaints, especially from my mother,on our four mile trek through the woods. Can you believe my mother jogged? Even if it was only for a brief moment, it still counts! Mom definitely gets an “A” for effort!
Today, as I was leaving, my mom told me she felt great and had more energy. She even lost 2 lbs in the four days I was there. Contrary to popular belief, I did NOT starve her! Ha!
Monday
Mom and I went to the grocery store (H.E.B) and bought ingredients for our meals for the week which included pasta, turkey burgers, grilled steak tacos, and pizza. We looked at ingredients and learned where everything was located so my mom would have no excuses in the future!
Since my mother and I are big tea drinkers, we sipped on green tea with orange slices throughout the day. I love the taste of green tea ( I will ramble on about it in a future blog) and swear by its metabolism boosting benefits! The orange slices make it extra refreshing and sweet enough that there’s really no need to add sugar. I was inspired by this idea in the May issue of Health magazine. This works great in regular water too! Not much to it, here’s the recipe.
Fat-Flushing Cooler:
2 quarts brewed green tea (8 cups)
slices of orange, lemon & lime
Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and enjoy hot or cold.
Here’s where I won’t comment on my mother’s knife skills or lack there of. For dinner we made Chicken Pasta Primavera, this recipe is from Health magazine July/August issue. This recipe is part of the Carb Lovers diet, it is full of RS (resistant starch), which fills you up longer and promotes fat burning. It is quick and delicious and has become a favorite around my house. You can go to http://www.health.com for the recipe, it is the second recipe that pops up if you search “Chicken Pasta Primavera”. Health magazine also has an iPhone app called The Carb Lovers Diet that has great recipes and snack ideas that focus on RS foods, like this one.
Dump all ingredients into bread machine pan according to manufacturer’s directions.
Select dough setting
When dough is done separate into 6 equal balls on a well floured surface
Allow to rise for 1 hour
Bake at 350 degrees for about 9 minutes
* When I was pouring the flour in the bread pan I lost track of my cup count ( brilliant I know!) thus I was only able to get 6 buns, the recipe states 12 servings, something to keep in mind.
This is not real food…
… this is not real food…
.
… this is NOT real food or drink for that matter. I did have to have a conversation with my sister about this tea. I thought as a family we had gotten past this, apparently I was quite wrong! My sister agreed it could go after we concluded that the added honey is why she likes the taste. She promised to make it herself and use real honey, sans Splenda! Gold star for you sister!
For dinner I made pizza. Veggie pizza that is minus the guilt! With all the flavor that this pizza packs you really don’t notice the missing pepperoni. For the pizza crust I also used the “dough” setting of my bread machine. You can find the recipe at http://www.Food.com.
Veggie Pizza 
:
1 garlic clove diced
fresh tomatoes diced
fresh red bell pepper sliced
fresh spinach
artichoke hearts
sliced red onion
organic mozzarella cheese shredded (Organic Valley)
Pizza sauce:
1 can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
oregano , salt and pepper to taste
Top crust with ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
I’m sure there are tons of variations for this pizza. I usually make it as mentioned above and add black Kalamata olives. I have also made it using left over zucchini and it was wonderful. My dad said that this pizza didn’t look like anything special at first, but after tasting it, he found out that I can “make a mean pizza.” So, I guess I will take that as a compliment!
The past four days have been great, I am so proud of my family! I know that they are now on the road to eating better and ultimately that means better health. It’s hilarious to watch people’s reactions sometimes when I talk about eating “healthier” and avoiding additives and chemicals. It’s as if they automatically flash to visions of eating granola and drinking water. I may be part hippie, but I promise you that my diet is far from being limited to eating granola and drinking water. There definitely can be a happy medium where food is flavorful yet healthy.
Nourishing the body: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Now that we have taken about 25 steps forward in my last blog, I thought we’d take about 15 back! A friend of mine wanted a sample menu plan of how I eat, I hesitated at first, because what I like, and what works for me, might not work for everyone else. This is what a typical day for me would be like, I focus on ingredients that are going to provide me with energy and taste great. I think the recipes alone are delicious and worth sharing, so here they are.
Breakfast: In the summer I usually have the Blackberry – Banana Slim Down Smoothie or the Strawberry Waffles that I blogged about previously, but sometimes I like to switch it up!
Personal Spinach Frittatas
8 eggs
1 cup 1% low-fat milk (Organic milk is very important here and usually don’t do the whole low-fat thing, I’m sure soy milk would work here too)
2 ounces sharp cheddar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup medium red onion
2 cups baby spinach
1/4 teaspoon salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 400
Coat 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, whisking well. Add milk and cheese, set aside.
Heat olive oil in a small saute pan. Add onions, chopped; cook until softened (5 minutes). Add spinach; cook until wilted (2 minutes). Drain water from pan; cool.
Add spinach mixture, salt & pepper to egg mixture. Pour mixture into prepared muffin pan; bake until tops are puffed and golden (30 minutes)
I wish I had taken a picture of these when I made them, they are quite cute! These are also super easy to make and will stay good in the refrigerator for a day or two. The last time I made these I had two, with a Food For Life 7 Sprouted Grain English Muffin with a little organic grape jelly, some watermelon and a cup of coconut milk. This recipe is from Health magazine http://www.health.com May 2011 issue. I should also add, that I usually cut this recipe in half when I make it, it yields about 6 Frittatas ( or 12 for the full recipe).
Green Smoothie
When I’m feeling a little sluggish, I will have a green smoothie for breakfast, it’s packed with antioxidants that will help you lose weight and give you a nice glow. I have to say, it took me a long time to build up to the idea of spinach in my smoothie, but you really don’t taste it. A variety of fruits could be used here, but this is my favorite combination!
1 bananas
1/4 cup frozen peaches
1/4 cup frozen mango
1 cup of spinach
1 cup of coconut water
ice
Lunch: Lunch varies for me, it really depends on what I have going on and what’s in the fridge. This past Winter I ate the Antioxidant Salad almost every day, it’s unbelievably satisfying and packed with antioxidants. I think it helped me to not get sick!
Antioxidant Salad
3 ounces baby mixed greens ( I have used spinach many times)
2 ounces grapes
1 ounce celery, thinly sliced
2 ounces of walnuts
1 ounce dried cranberries
1 ounce blue cheese ( I have used Gouda, sometimes I prefer it)
4 mint leaves
1/2 ounce red onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces cucumber, diced
1/4 cup strawberry, diced
1/4 cup blueberries
2 ounces bottled pomegranate vinaigrette
kosher salt & pepper to taste
* variations: In the Winter when I cannot find strawberries, I use pomegranate and do without the grapes. You can also make your own dressing; 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar infused with either acai or pomegranate.
If I am in a hurry or don’t feel like a salad, I usually have either a few slices of turkey, Gouda and avocado on a Food for Life English Muffin (they are full of fiber and protein) or I will have what I think is called an express plate; an apple, ounce of cheddar cheese, rye crackers and either a few slices of turkey or a boiled egg. The express plate is full of resistant starches, carbohydrates that convert quickly to energy and keep you full longer.
Dinner: Dinner is usually something a lot less hippie and natural looking since , I have to feed a hungry man, who eats for 3 people, and loves Pasta and meat. To compromise I usually make something along the lines of whole wheat pasta, turkey burgers, pizza or grilled steak tacos. My favorite right now are turkey burgers, Travis ate 2 of them last night, so I guess they’re good! This recipe is also from Health magazine, developed by my favorite person ever, natural foods chef, Bethenny Frankel . I put these burgers on a whole wheat hamburger bun, with a little mayo, jack cheese and avocado. Personally I think they are better than regular burgers!
Turkey Burgers
1 lb extra-lean ground turkey breast
1/2 red or yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
A dash of Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce
*I add red onions and pickled jalapenos
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Make 4 patties; put them in the broiler on a foil-lined pan coated with cooking spray. Broil patties until done (5-6 minutes on each side)
Each one is 126 calories – 59 calories fewer than a regular turkey burger and 132 calories fewer than a regular hamburger. – Bethenny Frankel
Majority of recipes I get are from either Health magazine or the Whole Foods website. Other cook books I really like include:
- Cook This, Not That by David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding. Full of pizza, pasta & burger recipes under 500 calories, I switch out ingredients for organic ones. The latest version has great recipes under 350 calories. We cook out of these books, so much there are splatter marks on all the pages.
- Anna Getty’s; Easy Green Organic. I was lucky to find this half price when Border’s was going out of business here. I love the recipes in this cookbook!
- Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels – Jillian tells the benefits of the ingredients in each tasty recipe.
- Robin to the Rescue by Robin Miller. I also picked up this cook book at Borders, it has really great recipes that max take about 30 minutes.
- http://www.Bethenny.com – LOVE Bethenny’s recipes!
- http://www.WholeFoods.com. You can search by breakfast, lunch, dinner or type of dish (i.e muffins, drinks) Most of the recipes make will make your mouth water just reading them. Whole Foods also has a great iPhone app, that allows you to enter ingredients you have on hand and will show recipes to make.
If anyone read my previous blog and felt overwhelmed by all the things you should avoid, I hope today you feel the opposite. The easiest way to avoid unwanted additives and preservatives is to follow the advice of writer and activist, Michael Pollan:
Rule No. 12: shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. – Michael Pollan
Happy. Healthy. Holistic. 