Daniel Fast Day 14 & 15: Surviving Antipasto & Some Stats

Day 14 (Sunday)

Today’s Devotion: “I Shall Not Want - Psalms 23:1-6 ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.’
I shall not want. Want in this verse means ‘to lack, be without, decrease, be lacking, have need’; because the Lord is my Shepherd lets me know the certainty of his provision. My God shall supply all of my need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Every verse in Psalms 23 gives us the confidence we need to know how great our God is. He has provided for the things ahead of us as He leads us down a righteous path, but also lets us know that following us ( that speaks of where we have already been) goodness & mercy will be there all of our lives as we dwell in His house. Because He is my Shepherd I will have peace!

It is interesting how frequently we as people confuse “want” and “need”; yet, here in this verse, they are synonymous.  When you’re on a fast, it’s the “wants” that tempt you, and yet, with the Daniel Fast, you have all you “need”.  There are protein sources, filling carbs, healthy fats, plenty of vitamins, and no restrictions on spices, so even flavor isn’t lacking.  Sugar cravings can be crushed with some fresh fruit; and yet, those donuts in the office break room still tempt me.  I mentioned before that our daily calorie intake has gone way down (typically 1500 calories/day before the fast, and now an average of 1000 while on the Fast).  I mentioned this to a coworker and she couldn’t believe I wasn’t hungry, and said that our stomachs must have just shrunk.  Well, while I don’t doubt that our stomachs probably have shrunk a little, the VOLUME of food we’ve been taking in hasn’t really changed all that much.  You’ve seen our plates every day of this fast—have they ever been “small” portions?  Not really—we’re still eating a full plate of food at each meal.  We’re not hungry because we have more than enough sustenance.  We aren’t deprived.  Our fridge isn’t empty.  Our stomachs aren’t growling.
Now, admittedly, I’ve cut my workouts down to about 1x/week while we’re on the Fast, just because we’re taking in so few calories—if I was still working out 2-3x week, I would probably be getting hungry.  But I’ve been spending that gym time in prayer & devotions while on the Fast.  I’ll probably lose some muscle mass—but that’s not the point.  This isn’t a diet.  It’s a spiritual commitment.  And I’m sure we’ll have no trouble getting that muscle back when we resume our regular diet next week.
Now—some nerdy stuff.  If you’re considering a Daniel Fast, but you’re concerned about protein, I got bored the other day and created this handy-dandy table of various protein sources (vegan & non-vegan, for comparison), so that you can try to pick the best protein sources while you’re fasting.  The highlighted items are Fast-Approved. (Also, please note, if you’re preggers and want to do the Fast, pretty much all of the Daniel Fast books & sites out there say you should still eat small amounts of lean chicken & fish in order to get the required amount of protein for baby-making.)

While we haven’t tried seitan since starting the Fast, I’ve heard good things about it from my vegetarian friends.  And it’s actually easy to make at home if you can’t find it at the store.  And if you want to add the nutritional yeast that’s in most recipes for seitan, that’s also Fast-approved, since it’s deactivated & not actually a leavening agent.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal w/raisins
Lunch:  We had a baked potato bar with our small group from church.  We threw together a delicious chili using black beans, a seasoning packet, a can of tomatoes & some crumbled up Boca burgers that a friend left in our freezer over the summer after a BBQ.

Dinner:  Our friend decided to host an antipasto party at her house.  If you’re not familiar with “antipasto”, it’s basically Italian tapas or finger foods.  Everything BUT pasta, sort of.  Yummy meats & cheeses, dips & crostini, Tiramisu cupcakes from AmyCakes, and some homemade limoncello… all of which we couldn’t have.  *sad face*  So we brought a Mediterranean fruit tray:

(cantaloupe, grapes, figs, dates, pears, and blood oranges)

…and a relish tray with some pickles, olives & nuts.  Chels also made a really yummy white bean dip that we were able to nom on with some mini sweet peppers.  Much fun was had, and we didn’t feel deprived.

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Day 15 (Monday)

Today’s Devotion: “Psalms 150:1-6 ‘Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.’
It’s time to Praise the Lord! Do you realize you have finished week two & are beginning the final seven days of your fast. God is so good. You need to take a few moments today & reflect on what you have already seen the Lord do during this fast. Isn’t it incredible, how can you keep your mouth shut? Scream, Shout, Jump up & down, give Him a wave offering, dance like a man on fire, that’s it---Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. He’s not nervous, backward, timid, shy, bashful, or religious so go ahead Praise God!!! He’s worthy of all of the praise you will give him. When I read this Psalm I can see each musician giving the Lord a solo praise on each of their instruments, it’s loud, it’s from the heart, & it truly blesses the Lord. What are you willing to give Him?”
Only five days left!  Is it odd that I’m more anxious to make sure I try all the Daniel Fast recipes I have pinned, than I am about getting to have coffee on Saturday?  It’s been a real blessing to be able to share this experience with our friends, family, and you readers!  I think our Life Group from church might even try to do the Fast together again at some point.  While we’re still waiting on answers for our big decisions this year, I can say I have much more peace about it than when we started.  Even though we don’t know what’s in store for 2014, we do know that God knows, and whatever happens, he’ll guide us through it.
As far as those who wonder about the potential health benefits/ramifications of choosing to do a Fast, I have to say—so far, there are no “bad” ramifications.  I mentioned that I gave blood last week; my test results came back, and in the 8 weeks since my last donation:

• My iron level actually went UP, despite not having any meat in our diet—likely because we weren’t drinking any tea or soda, which can leach iron from your system.  But we’ve had plenty of beans & spinach (excellent iron sources), and plenty of Vitamin C, which helps your body absorb more of the iron from foods when you eat them at the same time.
• My blood pressure dropped from 122/69 to 98/63.
• My pulse rate dropped from 96bpm (high) to 66bpm.
• My cholesterol dropped TWENTY-ONE points, from 185 in December to 164 in February.  For comparison, it was at 196 in July while The Scoop was still open (hot dogs & ice cream aren’t great for cholesterol, shocker, I know).  They don’t break it out into HDL and LDL, but still…an overall 164 is pretty awesome.

So, for those who have ever been concerned about the health of their vegan friends because they weren’t “getting enough protein”…you can probably stop worrying about them.  And for those vegans who are reading this and think, “Aha!   Now that you’ve seen the wonders of our diet, you MUST be considering staying on it, right?”
Umm…no.  Sorry.  I love cheese & bacon.  And I don’t believe in cramming a bunch of weird crap together into super-processed “vegan” version of meats or cheese. But I can say that all the label-reading we’ve been doing has made me much more aware of what goes into pre-processed foods.  For example—almost EVERY prepackaged food has sugar of some sort.  Some may use “cane juice”, or “molasses”…but it’s still sugar, folks.  We all have a sweet tooth, and the food companies have figured out that we think sugar makes everything taste better.  Even my canned “sweet peas” had sugar added.  Most of the canned beans—yup, sugar added. Even some of the flavored boxes of Triscuits I looked at had sugar.    Now…I don’t think sugar’s evil.  I love sugar.  Take a look at that tag map to the right of this post—you might notice that “desserts” is one of the most common tags.  But if you’re watching calories, or diabetic, or trying to go low-carb, you’ve really gotta watch out for any extra sugars that don’t NEED to be there.  So just be aware, and read labels.  There ARE products out there, even some generics, that don’t have added sugar.  My favorite examples for this Fast:  Original or generic Triscuits (aka Woven Wheat Squares), Kroger brand Greek dressing, Vlasic dill pickles, most yellow mustards (not honey or Dijon),  Smucker’s Natural peanut butter, Polaner AllFruit jams, Red Gold salsa, Bush’s black beans.

As for the whole food fans who are reading this who wonder if we’ll decide to go all-natural & organic and cut out all of the preprocessed foods from our life?  Also no, sorry.  If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably already know that we like to cook healthy, wholesome versions of bad-for-you things.  But with working 45 hours a week, PLUS having The Scoop to contend with when it reopens, we just don’t have the time to cook everything from scratch all the time, even though I do PREFER cooking from scratch and using natural, organic foods when we CAN.  But when you have a crazy hectic life, sometimes you really need shortcuts (all my mom readers out there, holla!).  But you can make smart choices when you’re buying pre-packaged, and it’s pretty common sense stuff:  get things without a lot of added ingredients or preservatives.  If you can read the list of ingredients, you’re probably in good shape.  Aim for whole grains and whole wheats, avoid added sugar, and go natural when you can, but don’t break the bank doing it.  Your life is YOUR life, and I’m not going to tell people who make $30k a year that they need to start spending their entire paycheck to go organic.  You are NO LESS of a person if you can’t afford a whole foods diet, or even if you CAN afford it but CHOOSE not to because it doesn’t fit your life. Just make the smartest choices you can afford to make.
Breakfast:  Leftover garlic mashed potatoes & peas (we’re trying to clear out all the leftovers) and a cup of fresh cantaloupe with salt
Lunch: The last of the veggie minestrone

Afternoon snack:  about a cup of fresh pineapple, and a bunch of grapes

Dinner:  The leftover crab boil veggies.

Daniel Fast Day 13: Bruschetta & a Cajun Veggie Boil!

Today’s Devotion:  “Day 13- Heirs Of Salvation-- Hebrews 1: 13-14  ‘But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?’
Romans 8: 16-17 ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.’

When we entered into covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ we became partakers of His glorious inheritance. As heirs everything He has belongs to us & we have access to it at any time. This is so powerful at work in His saints that He will dispatch angels to go ahead of us & prepare the way for his purposes to be fulfilled in his saints. I believe that at our command we can release an angelic host over cities or nations to prepare atmospheres for the presence of the Lord. Principalities & powers are already submissive to the Lord because of His victory over them at Calvary. So if there are some changes that need to take place or doors that have been closed that need to be opened for you, remember you’re an heir of God so release this angelic host by your decree & see the Salvation of God.”

Powerful words, especially when you find yourself feeling out of control and at the end of your rope.  All you have to do is ask.  Though I think it’s also important to spend time focusing on the blessings you’ve already been given, and thanking Him for those, lest we end up being unappreciative.  So many times we only find the time to pray when we need something.  I try to make sure to find time to just spend time thanking him for having a job I love, having a great family and friends, an awesome husband, paid off debts, surviving the first season of The Scoop…

Today was a nice day—we got to sleep in a little bit, I finished reading two books that I’ve been working on for a while.  Then I helped the Hubs bottle up his homebrew that he started 3 weeks ago:

48 bottles of American bock.  Can’t wait to try it!

Aaaaand after that… we were pretty lazy.  And it was AWESOME.

Breakfast: Leftover veggie minestrone

Lunch:  a small serving of leftover salsa rice, and then some yummy homemade bruschetta with Triscuits!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp minced basil
• 1 tsp minced oregano
• salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: 

Mix all of the components together, and let rest for 30 minutes or overnight so the flavors can come together,  Then serve!

 

Dinner:  Again…this is a CAJUN food blog… and we’re still tired of beans.  So, I decided to have a SHRIMP BOIL!!!  …without the shrimp. 

Yup, a dinner of just the sides.  YUM.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 large red potatoes, halved or quartered
• 8 oz white mushrooms
• 4 ears corn, halved
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4-6 garlic cloves, halved
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 bag Crab Boil
• 1 tbsp Liquid Crab Boil
• 1 tsp cayenne (optional – you can add more or less to your taste)
• Cajun Seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Fill a large pot with about 3 quarts of water, place over High heat, and add both of the crab boils, garlic, lemons, and onions.  When the water starts to simmer, add the corn & potatoes & cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Add the mushrooms when you have about 5 minutes of cook time left.

Serve up on newspaper, and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning.  Dig in!  (and wash your hands after you finish eating—lest you end up with capsaicin in your eye.)

Daniel Fast Day 12: Fasting & Valentine’s Day!

Today’s Devotion: “Let God Arise- Psalms 68:1 ‘Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.’

It is day number 12 in our fast & 12 is the number of perfect government. To be governed perfectly means that the King is sitting upon the throne of our hearts ruling & reigning in our lives. That is a picture of his kingdom. I believe this is what this verse in Psalms is referring to when it declares, “Let God Arise”. Whenever we become complacent in the things of the Lord seems to be the times most of the attacks of the enemy come against us.  Not as though the Lord has left us or anything like that, but it represents times when we put Him out of mind & begin to do our own thing. But the answer is simple, ‘Let God Arise.’ We can avoid the heartache most of us deal with if we will remember this simple truth.”

Well, Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!  The day where we celebrate a man who was martyred for marrying Christians with champagne, flowers and boxes of chocolates.  Completely logical, right?

Well, with the Daniel Fast, we can only celebrate with one of those things.

(Thanks for the flowers, Bishop Valentinus.)

So, are we stuck at home munching on celery & carrot sticks?

NOPE.  Well…okay, we are eating at home, but definitely not rabbit food!

(Unless rabbits also eat fungus & tubers. In which case…erm…well…sorta.)

Breakfast:  ½ whole wheat flatbread w/PB & pumpkin pie spice

Lunch: Leftover salsa rice.

Valentine’s Dinner:  Garlic Rosemary mashed potatoes, balsamic grilled mushrooms & onions, and steamed peas.

That’s right…tonight’s dinner actually doesn’t have any “real” protein, because we’re kinda burnt out on beans.  So I used my favorite marinade to make us some meaty mushrooms and comforting mashed ‘taters.

INGREDIENTS: (serves 2)

Potatoes -

• 2-3 large russets, peeled & cubed
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon (if it has no actual chicken product in it)
• 1/2-2/3 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste

Mushrooms & Onions-

• 8 oz fresh portabellas, wiped but not washed
• ½ onion, sliced into thin rings
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• ½ tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

For the Mushrooms—place the oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt & pepper to a large Ziploc and mix well.  Then add the mushrooms and marinate for about 30 minutes.

Boil potatoes with the chicken bouillon, minced garlic & rosemary to help infuse those flavors into the potatoes.  When the potatoes are tender, drain the water and add coconut oil and milk and puree until creamy.  Add more garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste.

While your potatoes are boiling, heat a large skillet over medium heat, spritz lightly with olive oil, and then add your mushrooms & the sliced onions.  Sauté until tender and the onions are caramelized.  You can add a bit of water if the marinade starts to render down too much.

And for Dessert?  More fake ice cream!

(1 ripe banana, mashed, 1.5 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tsp unsweet cocoa powder, 4 dashes cinnamon: blend together & freeze)

Garnish with some fresh fruit (used a cookie cutter to make the shapes).

As for gifts: I pulled another “Crafts in the Office” & made The Hubs a little wall hanging from one of our favorite photos.

Supplies:

• 5” wooden plaque (Hobby Lobby)
• Wood Stain or Paint
• Modge Podge
• Photo, trimmed to fit
• Any lettering/decorations you want to use
• Ribbon
• Two thumbtacks & some Scotch tape

This was a super quick little craft. I had the photo printed at 5x7 so that I could trim it to fit, and then went through a recent mag and picked out some letters to decorate with.  This seemed appropriate. :)

Backstory: This is from a trip to San Fransisco.  We missed the last Alcatraz tour (which you can barely see in the background).

I stained the edges of the wood that would be visible, and then set it aside to dry.  Then I applied Modge Podge to the wood, attached my photo, and then sorta “squeegeed” the photo to get the excess glue out.  Then let it dry.  Once dry, I added the letters, and Modge Podge’d over the whole thing, let it dry again, and used some sand paper to buff any edges of the photo so that it would be flush with the plaque.

I taped the ends of the ribbon so they wouldn’t fray & used the tacks to connect to the back.

Ta-Da!

Oh, and I also ordered The Hubs some personalized beer bottle labels, since he’ll be bottling up his first batch of home brew over the weekend!

And for me?  Well… you know… I don’t ask for much… and yet, The Hubs takes quite good care of me.  Love you to the moon & back, sweetie!

Daniel Fast Day 9: No worries, and minestrone!

Today’s Devotion: “The Battle Is The Lord’s. 1 Samuel 17: 45-47 ‘Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.’

This is one of my favorite stories found in the bible & I guess it could be because I’m shouting for the underdog in the story. But upon further examination, we find that David never was the underdog. He was one up on any enemy he faced because he had the Lord on his side & had realized that he would fight his battles for him. He referenced past victories with the lion & the bear to reinforce his faith as he stood before this giant, & that is the same thing we will have to do if we want to stand against any giants that would come in our lives. There has to be a beginning established for us to stand in faith, so today let this be yours. Instead of trying to fight your enemy with your own strength, place whatever giant your facing into the Lord’s hands & stand in faith decreeing the word of the Lord for your life. The Lord will not fail you & you can finally find that place of rest you have been looking for. Go ahead & go for it, everything changes today.”

Last night the Hubs & I were flipping through a magazine which had an article called “The Secret Things Men Worry About”.  The list included everything from “I worry about how much I make in comparison to my friends” to “I’m worried that someone someday might beat me up in front of my family”.  I had to tease my husband & ask him if any of the things on the list worried him; for most of them he said no, and added that “he typically only worries about things that are out of his control”.  I can empathize. I was a big fretter back in my college days; things used to really wind me up into a panic.  Everything from “how am I going to get all this homework done?” to “what if so-and-so doesn’t like me?” to “what would happen if I got into a car crash and died and I didn’t have my wallet with me?”  Then somewhere around my 21^st birthday, I decided I was done with worrying. I decided I would take charge, and do the things that were in my power to do, and if something was outside of my control, then there was no point in worrying about it because there was absolutely nothing I could do to affect it. “I cannot control the universe around me; I can only control how I respond to the things that happen to me” was my mantra for a long time.

For the most part, that philosophy has worked out pretty well, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t still worry about things from time to time.  When meeting business contacts for the first time, I’m a wreck inside because I’m horrible at small talk and a total introvert.  Sometimes (and I know it’s morbid) I worry about one of my parents passing away (they’re only in their 60s, so there’s no urgency on that one)…or how my life would change if I needed to help care for them, since I’m an only child.  Since I’m in my 30s and still without child, I definitely worry about being an older parent, and if I’ll have the stamina to keep up with my kids… or I worry about the higher risk of mental disabilities in children born to “older” women (ugh….am I an “older” woman now?).  But aside from that first point, all of these items are out of my control.  I can take classes on how to become better at networking.  But everything else?  That’s up to God.  All I can do is ask Him to reign over any situation in my life, and to help me adapt to whatever He has in store for me.

In the list of things I can control, I used some paid volunteer time to go give blood today!  Partly because they were running low on my blood type, and partly because I figured it was a good opportunity to get free vital statistics, since I was interested to see how my vitals compare while I’m on the Fast to how they normally are.  I was surprised that even with not having had any meat for 9 days and only relying on iron supplements, my blood iron level was still fairly high!  Probably because I’m also not drinking any sodas or tea, since they can leach iron from your system.

And in other news…I’m craving gyros today.  :)

Breakfast: the last sweet potato pancake, w/natural peanut butter, a few toasted pecans, and some pumpkin pie spice; and an orange.

Lunch: Pasta e fagioli! Or Minestone. I’m not really sure which is more accurate.

Dinner: The same!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1-2 cups water
• Two 8 oz cans tomato sauce
• 15 oz kidney beans (pre-cooked is easier—if you use soaked beans, you’ll need to cook your beans for about an hour before adding them in with the rest of everything else)
• 1 cup baby spinach, rinsed and sliced thin
• 1-2 red potatoes, chopped
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (I used 4 Dorot Basil cubes)
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounces whole wheat pasta (we used rotini since it’s what we had onhand)

DIRECTIONS:

In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.  Then add celery and carrots and saute for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Add veggie stock and and tomato sauce and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat to low and add remaining veggies, basil, oregano and salt and pepper and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside, coating with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking together.  This is done separately so that the pasta doesn’t continue to soak up broth & become a soft mushy mess.

When both are done, place ¼ to ½ cup of pasta in each bowl, and ladle the soup mixture over top.  Ours came out a bit thick (most likely because of cooking the kidney beans from scratch) so it’s almost more of a stew.  But it’s SUPER hearty and really delicious!

Daniel Fast Day 1, & Veggie Burritos

So… Day 1.  As predicted, I’ve been dragging butt today!  While I’ve managed to avoid caffeine withdrawal headaches so far, they may be impending.  We’ll see what the next few days bring.  And since I’m tired from the lack of caffeine, I’ve also been a bit snippy…so…for that, I apologize to my coworkers. :D

Normally, I would have prepared us a big batch of something-or-other for lunch over the weekend, but with the SuperBowl yesterday, I didn’t have a chance.  So that means breakfast & lunch today were a bit thrown together.

Breakfast: 1 cup oatmeal w/ 3 diced strawberries & some cinnamon:  Not. Enough. Cinnamon.  I had hoped our strawberries would be sweet enough to save the day…but alas…not quite. I’ll try a different fruit tomorrow.

Lunch: 2 Tbsp garlic hummus, ¼ cup baby carrots, 1 cup mixed fruit (leftover from the SuperBowl party last night—the only thing we got to keep, sadly), ½ cup yellow cherry tomatoes, and unsweetened applesauce.  Pretty lacking in protein, but it kept me full.

Afternoon snack: ½ package of smoked almonds. YUM.

Dinner: Veggie Burritos wrapped in Multigrain Flax Flatbread.  DEFINITELY yum.

Ingredients:  (makes 4-6 servings)

1 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed

2-3 Tbsp taco seasoning (chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic salt, cayenne)

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 onion, sliced thin

4 white mushrooms, sliced

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can sweet corn, drained

1 can Ro-Tel, drained

1/2 cup sliced cabbage

fresh cilantro

Flat-Out Multigrain Flatbread w/Flax

 

Directions:

Toss the sweet potatoes, 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, and 1 tsp of the seasoning mix together, and then roast for 30 minutes at 375.

On the stove top, combine the remaining ingredients (minus cabbage, cilantro & flatbread) and cook for 20-30 minutes over medium-low heat. 

 

Today’s Devotional: “Matthew 5:3 – ‘You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.  With less of you, there is more of God & His rule.’ I don’t know of a more appropriate verse to use to begin this twenty-one day adventure.  You may feel weak already just thinking that there are still twenty days left and you have just  begun, but let me reassure you His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Get your focus  off of yourself and think of someone else you know that really needs your prayer today. Let  this verse be the foundation of your prayer for them. “

Makes sense:  Rather than dwelling on how tired and cranky I am, or how good my coworker’s coffee looked this morning (Whipped cream? Seriously?  You’re killing me, Smalls!) or how good my other co-worker’s pizza lunch smelled (mmm…Totino’s…), I should reflect on how blessed I am, and focus on someone else who needs God’s assistance more than I do.  I may miss pizza, but I have plenty of food…meanwhile there are people out there who don’t have lunch today, or maybe don’t have coworkers to be snippy at because they don’t have a job right now.  My life is good, and I am contented.

So I picked a few friends and family members who all have their own personal issues going on, and said a prayer for each of them: for health, for new job opportunities, for rocky pregnancies and premature babies, for marital and financial peace.

Tonight, I’ll be making some infused water to help keep cravings curbed, and portion out some breakfast & lunch options to make mornings smoother for the rest of the week.

Quinoa Salad & a 3 Day Cleanse

Somewhat symbolically, with the beginning of the new year, the Hubs & I decided to try a cleanse.  I say “somewhat” symbolic, because it was really more about trying to get our systems back in check after consuming massive amounts of holiday food.  The sis-in-law told us about the 10 Day Water Cleanse, but she also mentioned that her brother in law broke down crying after being on it for 7 days.  Umm… no thanks.

Instead, we opted to go with the 3-Day Jumpstart Cleanse, because, well…it’s only 3 days.  I am far less likely to give up something that’s only 3 days.  And it seemed pretty simple too: protein shake in the morning,  some probiotics & vitamins throughout the day, and you only have to give up caffeine, gluten, dairy, processed sugar, and booze.  I can live without those for 3 days.

Prebiotic protein shake: blueberries, almond milk, banana, kale, protein powder, & apple cider vinegar.

However, the tricky thing about eating is what you’re allowed to eat together.  Fruits & veggies you can have any time, but you’re not allowed to have animal protein, grains, or legumes together.  That may sound like no biggee at first, but it poses a big challenge when you’re planning a meal…especially when you throw those other rules in there. 

“Glazed chicken wings with peas! Wait…are peas legumes?  And wait, we can’t glaze wings, because of the sugar… Okay, side of corn w/dry rub wings? Wait…is corn a grain?  What does it say about starches?  Does it count potatoes as a veggie?  How about tuna salad…wait, no, there’s sugar in the mayo…”

“I’m craving sweets…how about a microwave oatmeal muffin?  Wait…no…can’t have the brown sugar, and can’t combine egg (animal protein) and oats (grains)…. are oats even gluten free?  UGHHH…”

My first day of the cleanse, I was completely ill-prepared.  I ended up taking a hard boiled egg, some edamame, and raw veggies for lunch.  For dinner, we did grilled chicken & steamed broccoli…and were then pretty well worthless all day because of how few carbs we’d taken in during the day.

Now, on Day 3, here’s what I threw together for lunch, so we could make up for some missing carbs.

This is a twist on my salsa rice recipe, but I used quinoa to get more protein & be more filling, since I couldn’t use beans & grains together.

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa

1/4 onion, diced

1 tsp garlic powder

14 oz can tomatoes & green chilis

1 handful cilantro, chopped

Corn, removed from 1 ear

1/2 avocado, chopped

2 Tbsp lime juice

chili powder, cumin & paprika to taste

 

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the water & quinoa in a pot & bring it to a boil.  Add the diced onion and the garlic powder, cover, and reduce the temperature to simmer & let cook for 15-20 minutes.

When the quinoa is fully cooked, add the remaining ingredients & mix well to combine. 

Then, voila, you’re done!  Healthy, delicious, and super easy!  I love all the colors!

 

NutriFacts: (makes 4 servings)

Calories: 350

Fat: 8.3 g

Fiber: 8.4 g

Carbs: 60.3 g

Sodium: 358 mg

Protein: 11.7 g

Salsa Rice: Versatile Dish Extraordinaire!

Once upon a time (i.e. 2009), there was a recession.  Wait, what?  Are we still in it?  I can’t tell—plenty busy here…
ANYWAY…in this Once-Upon-A-Time land, there were two friends:

(I promise she’s not naked.)

…who worked for a consulting company that catered to oil-drilling clients.  And crude oil prices had bottomed out to $40/barrel.  And you know what happens when the price of oil drops below $60/barrel, my friends?  Oil-Drilling Companies don’t drill.  It’s not cost-effective.  So our phones weren’t ringing, and we weren’t working overtime, and we were even FORCED to take one-hour lunches and leave when we hit 40 hours at the end of the week.  Tough times, I tell you.

(Clean desk = not enough work.)

So what to do, when you’re not working, but you still have to BE at work?  Well, these two friends invented a game called “Google Dat”.  Which basically involved spending a lot of time on Google.  Don’t know the answer to a question?  Just Google dat.  What was the name of the guy in that one movie?  Google dat.  How long does it take to fly to Hawaii?  Google dat.  What’s the lunch special at Chung King today?  You should Google dat.  What’s on the Green Dragon Roll at Osaka?  Google dat.
So when one of these friends (aka: me) decided to test out Dr. Ian’s “Detox Diet” for two weeks, I needed a plethora of recipes that involved brown rice and beans, and no meat.  What’s a girl to do? 

You got it:  YOU GOOGLE DAT.

You know…because Pinterest didn’t exist yet.  Also, there were dinosaurs.

I still have a stockpile of recipes that we downloaded during this period of time, but this one is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. 

I still make it all the time because it’s quick, easy, super-flavorful & just really fresh-tasting.  And it goes with anything—or, is totally awesome on its own, because garbanzo beans are a nice protein source (1 cup gives you 29% of your daily requirement).

And normally, I make this with Minute brown rice for a quicker cooking time, however, we were out of that so instead, I finally used up the last of my Louisiana “popcorn rice”.

This rice was a gift from my friends the Trahans (pronounced “Trah-hahns”, not “Tray-hands”) and it comes from one of my favorite lil’ towns in Louisiana: Gueydan.

Which is, of course, pronounced “Gey-don”, not “Gooey-dan”.  Just FYI. It’s a fun word to say.  Particularly if you have or can mimic a Cajun accent.

ANYWAY…it’s a long grain rice that supposedly smells like popcorn while cooking…thus the name.  And it’s an authentic Louisiana product.  And it’s delicious and fluffy & cooks perfectly. If you’ve got the cash & the means, I highly recommend picking some up.

Ingredients (makes eight 1-cup servings):
2 cups uncooked rice
1 can beans (we used garbanzo this time, but black beans are equally awesome)
1 cup your favorite salsa (can add more to taste)
1 cup corn kernels (sweet Missouri corn preferred!)
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:
Bring 4 cups of water to boil, add your rice, then drop the heat to simmer, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes. 
Then remove the lid, check for doneness, fluff with a fork, and remove from heat.
(Updated 2019: You can alternately make your rice in the Instant Pot--I like to use brown rice, which takes 2 cups rice and 2.5 cups water, for about 18 minutes, and then let pressure release for 10 minutes.)
Add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Taste for flavor—add more salsa or seasonings as needed.
Then NOM down!

NutriFacts: (per 1 cup serving)
Calories 233.3
  Total Fat 1.2 g
  Saturated Fat 0.2 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
  Cholesterol 0.0 mg
  Sodium 323.2 mg
  Potassium 269.1 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 49.6 g
  Dietary Fiber 3.9 g
  Sugars 0.7 g
  Protein 6.5 g

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This post is dedicated to my friend/coworker April, who has to eat a gluten-free diet & has all sorts of dietary restrictions because of her MS flare ups.  She works out of our Kansas City office now, but used to be here in this office; I sort of enjoyed the challenge of trying to find a tasty, gluten-free, April-friendly recipe whenever we had a potluck at the office. 

Sadly, I didn’t find this one until just recently, but April, if you’re reading this, I’d be more than happy to make them next time you’re in town, because they were AWESOME!

 

The original blogger who posted this stated that they almost can’t be considered a cookie, but I say “phooie” to that.  It’s small, delicious, and cookie shaped—ergo, a cookie.  She referred to them as “dough bites”…which, I guess I can see the reasoning, since this is essentially a vegan recipe and a lot of the things that make a “cookie” a “cookie” are missing.  No flour, no egg, no butter…

…so what IS in them, you ask?

Chickpeas.

Seriously.

Oh, quit scrunching your nose.  You eat hummus, right? (You don’t???  Okay, you need to start.  Like right now.)  But chickpeas form the creamy base for THAT delicious dish, so why WOULDN’T they work for cookies?

Okay…I understand your reservations.  If the original blogger’s cookie hadn’t looked so darn delicious, I probably would have been skeptical too.  But I’m easily wooed by a beautiful photo with melty chocolate.

Do YOU see a chickpea in there?  Because I don’t.  All I see is something that needs to get in. mah. bellayyy.

If you’ve never cooked with chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) before, you should really try it.  I love hummus, but on top of that, these legumes are a powerhouse.  They’re mild in flavor so you can add as filler to nearly anything, and they’re low on calories & fat, while being high in protein & fiber.  You can season & roast them for a crunchy snack (think “corn nuts”) mix them in with salsa, sprinkle over a salad, add to soups & chili…

…or you can beat them to a pulp and make a cookie dough out of them.  Let’s take a whack at that last one.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel (It won’t take a whole can; there will be about 1/4 cup leftover. I tossed the remaining chickpeas in with some salsa & fresh cilantro for a tasty chip dip.)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons  peanut butter 
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips for more thorough chocolate distribution)—note, if you’re making this vegan, you’ll have to use a vegan chocolate chip, obvs.

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Bust out your handy dandy food processor, and pour in the chickpeas.  Then pulse until the tiny legumes start to look crumbly.  Then, add in your remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate) and process until smooth.  You’ll probably need to stop & scrape the sides periodically so you don’t miss any chunks of pea.  Once it’s smooth & well combined, remove & scrape the blade, and then mix the chocolate chips in with a spatula.

The dough will be sticky, so wet your (thoroughly washed) hands, and then roll the dough into little balls, and place on a cookie sheet.  Because of the lack of “cookie” type ingredients, these will not spread much, so if you want them to look cookie-ish, flatten them with your hand---or you could do the signature “fork cross hatching” that is characteristic of a good peanut butter cookie.

Then bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms start to brown. Devour Eat while warm.

See???  Just looks like a normal, delicious, wonderful chocolate chip cookie!  You’d never know there were chickpeas in there!  I fed several of these to unsuspecting coworkers (seriously, my coworkers are my guinea pigs.  But they don’t complain.  We’re scientists.  Test subjects are just a way of life)  and waited until they got the “OMG it’s so good!” out of their cookie-filled mouths before I mentioned that the primary ingredient was a bean.

The inside is moist & gooey and melty. Sheer heaven in a cookie shape.

The original blogger mentioned that the dough didn’t taste great before baked, and that the cookies tasted not quite right when cold.  However, I’m thinking maybe that had more to do with the all-natural peanut butter she was using, or perhaps some of the other ingredients, since she lives in Germany and they don’t always make things quite the same in other countries. (I have a friend in Brazil who can’t buy marshmallows at the store.  What kind of life is that???)

I used Wal-Mart brand chickpeas and peanut butter, and good ol’ Acadiana honey, and I thought the dough was delicious.  And the cookies were just fine cold, too.  This is seriously, in all honesty, probably the best PB & chocolate cookie I’ve ever had.

 

So again, if you’re headed to a BBQ this Fourth of July and you don’t want to bring a salad, and/or you have a friend who needs to eat gluten-free, bring this treat along instead!  See if anyone notices they have chickpeas in them…my guess is, if you don’t tell them, they’re not going to say a word, other than “these are AWESOME!” or something akin to that.

 

NutriFacts (per cookie)

Calories 80.9

Total Fat 4.2 g

Saturated Fat 1.4 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8 g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g

Cholesterol 1.3 mg

Sodium 84.3 mg

Potassium 59.3 mg

Total Carbohydrate 9.8 g

Dietary Fiber 0.9 g

Sugars 5.6 g

Protein 2.2 g