I love a hearty breakfast, I tease Tim all the time because he wakes up to a bowl of cold cereal and I wake up to a mountain of eggs, veggies and bulgur wheat (a recipe I will post in the near future). When I read Katie’s scrambled tofu recipe and her suggestion of wrapping it in a tortilla, I thought: perfect! Here’s my spin on her recipe, I did a breakfast burrito and made it Mexican using ingredients that I happened to have on-hand.

I sliced up some zucchini into half moons and diced some tofu into cubes. I used my Smart Balance cooking spray (a habit I need to break at some point, cooking with chemicals defeats the purpose of the organic ingredients!) to spray my pan and then I fried up the tofu and zucchini with some Mrs. Dash’s salt-free Table Blend.

I prefer super-firm tofu so mine came out less “scrambley” than the original recipe but that was fine by me. I zapped my tortilla for 10 seconds in the microwave to warm and soften it (I put a paper towel on a plate and then put the tortilla on top. I then use the paper towel as my napkin and simply rinse the plate off since its still clean!).  I put all the fried ingredients on the tortilla and topped it with parsley and salsa:

This made for a delicious and hearty breakfast! I would make this again in a heartbeat. Best of all, I was able to cook  and eat this in the morning before work in only 10 minutes. Quick, easy, delicious. Thanks, Katie!

oh man, its making me hungry just looking at it!

The guac is simply an avocado smooshed with a fork and a healthy spritz of lemon or lime juice (whichever I have on-hand). The salsa was a new brand we found at Whole Foods and it was very good – we chose it due to its low sodium content. The chips are one of our favorites, they are Henry’s storebrand and also chosen due to low sodium. This is really probably not the worst thing I could ever eat, but I always eat too much of it because I’m so hungry and it is  so salty, spicy, crunchy, creamy delicious.

After I finally pried myself away from the chips, I went onto to attempt a food-combined dinner. I made a big salad with the veggies we had on-hand from the farmer’s market: lettuce, onions, red bell pepper, carrot shavings, European cucumber and some hot banana peppers (for me, too salty for Tim-o). While I was rinsing and chopping my veggies, I made a bag of Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Blend (Israeli cous cous, baby garbanzo beans, red quinoa and orzo). When it was done cooking, I threw in some diced zucchini and summer squash and just let them cook in the residual steam and heat by turning the stove off, mixing them into the grains, and covering the pot. I like my veggies barely cooked and this worked perfectly.

final product

I put my grain blend on a bed of kale massaged with olive oil and garlic sea salt. I am experimenting with kale and finding it too bitter and tough to easily slip into recipes like I do with spinach. I will prevail, though! It ended up tasting best mixed in with the salad. We did a simple dressing of just olive oil and white wine balsamic vinegar.

I realized after that this meal technically was not food-combined properly due to the little baby garbanzo beans in the grain mix, but I wasn’t going to beat myself up about it. I had resisted adding cheese to my salad, meat to my grains and I even managed to resist adding nuts to my whole meal, which is one of my favorite things to do. I love the taste of grains with nuts, I like the mix of textures, the soft with the crunch. All in all, I had a couple gnarly farts before bed and when I woke up, but I felt much better than I usually do after dinner. I wasn’t painfully bloated, I felt good. I think there’s a lot of merit in food-combining, I just have to get used to not eating like I usually do. Tim and I both love mixing everything together, adding complexity and texture to all our dishes. Its a tough habit to break but well worth not having my pants cutting into my inexplicably swollen belly all night!

I feel good about how I ate yesterday, I just wish I had made it to the gym. I was so exhausted after dinner I just couldn’t do it. Beyond my tiring day, I had the heart-breaking let down of discovering my big bunch of green kale was infested with some gross pale bugs, they looked like babies, I think I found some sacs on the leaves that they had just hatched out of. I was so upset because we’ve had issues with a lot of produce molding quickly in the humid apartment and I’ve had to throw out a bunch of things which I can’t stand. I hate waste more than anything.

#1: Coffee – I love coffee so much, I actually get little butterflies when I’m on my way to my favorite coffee joint to order a special “fancy” coffee for a treat. I only drink 1-2 little cups per day, in the morning, so it seems like it would be an easy habit to break. But alas, I can’t let it go. Its terrible for my blood-sugar, I’m caffeine sensitive so it makes me jittery, I have to have it with milk and sugar (two things I’m trying to eliminate from my diet completely). Its bad for me but damn if I can even imagine one workday morning without it. I’ve tried replacing it with tea but its not nearly the same. This is one of my main goals for my diet change this year and I have no idea how to say goodbye to my bittersweet morning lover.

#2: Cheese – Cheese, like spicy/hot flavors (see #4), is something I have with almost every meal. Not to say I necessarily eat a lot of cheese everyday, but I eat it everyday. A sprinkle of salty feta on salad, some zesty jalapeno-cheddar on my breakfast burrito, shreds of mild cheddar on my black beans and rice. Ooh lordy, I could go on for days. Sadly, cheese is terrible for you. Its made out of evil dairy, typically high in fat, mucous forming so bad for digestion, etc, etc. And its said to be insanely addictive, which I totally believe because I am freely admitting right now that I am addicted to it. Like coffee is to my morning routine, cheese is to my daily meals. I’ll miss my creamy, melty friend.

#3: Beer – For a while now, I rarely drink wine. I don’t drink a lot in general anyway, but when I do I relish a cold microbrew. Now that I live in San Diego, my options for locally brewed beer seem endless! But, as someone who believes she has Candida, beer is a bad choice. Its also bad for my blood-sugar levels and dense on the calories. However, anytime I try to substitute my gorgeous hearty stouts, browns, reds and whites with something less sinful, like a vodka seltzer, it just isn’t the same. I’ve gotten old enough that I really do drink for taste, not to get drunk, and a vodka seltzer just reminds me of being anorexic and angry.

#4: Hot peppers, hot sauce, hot chili paste, etc. – I make everything spicy. Seriously. I mean it. Every single meal, typically, in a day has something hot and firey in it. I love it. The problem is that most spicy sauces and condiments are filled with chemicals and sodium. Also, I believe that they are acidic and so don’t jive with proper food-combining and digestion. But they are so good. I’ve achieved a partial solution: Tim has found sodium free habanero sauce online that is actually very tasty. But I may just always have to accommodate my need for heat, I couldn’t live without it. My mom ate jalapenos and Tabasco sauce everyday while pregnant with me. I have been saturated with a love for spice since the womb.

These are my biggest weaknesses. I welcome all of you to post comments about either something you are terrified to give up or something you have managed to give up that was really tough.

cause of all the trouble...

My problem is that I am such a social creature, I love being with people and for me, food is a great activity or experience to share. So when Josh asks if we’re trying a new Persian restaurant, my knee-jerk reaction is “hell yeah we are!” If someone asks me if I want a cold beer in a frosted mug, my automatic answer is “yes, please.” I have been able to break this awful habit in the past, but only after isolating myself in my own apartment, eating really well and working out, and then slowly re-entering the social scene feeling lean and controlled.

Now, I live with Tim and Josh, and its constant temptation and I can’t get my footing. Neither one of them takes any of my goals seriously, they think its cute to get me to break down and eat or drink something that I’m trying not to. It makes me severely angry sometimes, to be honest. They don’t seem to understand how bad I feel physically or mentally right now, which is exactly why I have so much trouble resisting anything. And on top of how negatively I feel about myself, I then have to feel like a total loser because I’ve made these huge speeches about how I’m avoiding a certain thing or eating a certain way and then I go back on my word, every time. I used to be able to stick to it once I made up my mind, I don’t know why I’m failing so miserably now.

So, on the up side, Tim and I made an awesome walnut parsley pesto yesterday. I got the initial recipe from Adventures of Raw Goddess Heathy but had to make some adjustments when I realized I only had about 1/2 cup basil from the Farmer’s Market in Little Italy on Saturday. I will post many, many recipes (with pictures!) on here going forward, but you all must bear with me. I am Italian and I grew up learning to cook from my father, who eye-balled everything and made adjustments as he went. I carry on that tradition of instinctual cooking, so my recipes will have vague measurements.

Walnut Pesto Primavera

Pesto:

• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• palmful fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Pasta:

• 16 oz bag farfelle (bowtie) pasta
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• handful grape tomatoes

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Cut the asparagus into bite-size (1-1.5 inch pieces). Rinse your tomatoes and set aside or cut them in half if that’s how you like them.

Blend pesto ingredients together in a food processor (a blender may work as well). Start with walnuts, basil, parsley and garlic. I recommend that you then start drizzling the olive oil in, blend, taste and add more if needed. I like my pestos to be more herb and nut than oil but some may like it very oily. Always taste your food as you go!

Once pasta water is boiling, throw your farfelle in the water for 8-10 minutes. Put a small pot on with just two inches of water in it for the asparagus. Bring that to a boil, throw in the asparagus and cook for just 2-3 minutes, tops. Drain pasta and asparagus. I would recommend mixing the pasta with the pesto first and then mixing in the veggies. We coated the pasta in a little olive oil first, then added the pesto, and it was enough to lightly cover everything. Stir in asparagus and tomatoes, or use tomatoes as a garnish.

here's the finished product!

This recipe worked well in a pinch but I would do a full cup of basil and a whole handful of parsley in the future as I love a really strong herb flavor. This was a landmark for me, as I have never made pesto or eaten it without cheese, but we really didn’t need it, and Tim didn’t seem to miss meat at all during this meal (I had weaseled my way around adding chicken!). This was a great, simple, gorgeous summer recipe.

Enjoy!

I spent a lot of mental energy in the shower thinking of what goals I could set for this weekend. Pick something small and easily attainable so I set myself up for success. The trick is sticking to it forever, not just for the weekend. Whatever I choose is my first step in a very long journey, this is a goal I’m setting for life. With that in mind, everything seems daunting. Suddenly, the only things I’m willing to give up are things I’ve pretty much already given up.

The other problem is that I’m still not sure exactly what my end goal will be, so its hard to set little goals in between. For instance, I’m drawn to becoming vegan but then I know there are raw-foodists who still eat meat, fish and cheese and that also appeals to me. I have no problem with the concept of eating meat, its industrial farming that I can’t support. I can’t imagine life without fish or cheese, but I’ve already given up milk and rarely eat red meat or chicken (although I still love red meat, I save it for special restaurant occassions). I struggle with what I believe is good or bad for me: I think fish is healthy and makes me feel wonderful, but I worry over the waters it grew up in. I love tofu but I do think soy is bad for you. I want my path to be chosen by how I feel when I eat certain things and by being educated, but I’ve still got so much to learn.

This is tough, but, I think my first few sets of goals should be geared toward eliminating things I know are bad for good and then also start practicing things that don’t require me to eliminate anything but will help me learn how to eat differently. Therefore, for this weekend I will:

1. Start practicing food combining with at least one meal eat day
2. Will never touch cow’s milk again (hate milk anyway, its cheese that I love)
3. Will not consume meat or poultry unless its free-range, organic (till I decide my stance on meat)

So these are my new guidelines. The food combining is appealing yet scary to me. I can’t imagine eating protein without a starch, but at the same time I’ve had horrible bloating and gas for months now so obviously my body is in desperate need of this. I will not ever box myself into a corner with food. My ultimate goal is to eliminate things I know are bad for me and then to listen to my body as I move toward a regimen that makes me feel optimally healthy while also being maintainable.

The ice cream social is a fund-raising event, one of several the company has planned. You pay $3 for one serving of ice cream, $5 for each additional serving. The last one was “Jeans Week” where you paid $5 per day to have the privilege of wearing jeans to work. That idea, I feel, was inspired. You pay your money to be comfortable and its a fun, light-hearted thing to do with no adverse health effects. The ice cream social, however, has my blood boiling. This is corporate American culture – let’s constantly create an environment where we push extremely unhealthy food and habits on our employees. Those who don’t participate will be tagged as lame, no fun, anorexic, cheap or weird. Who doesn’t love ice cream?!

Here’s the thing: if you manage to avoid the temptation of a mid-day sweet treat, pressure from co-workers and those post lunch hunger pangs then you have the additional added guilt of the fact that its for charity. And if you do manage to avoid all that and stay the course, then you are labeled as something negative by everyone else who participated.

Baby showers get cakes, birthdays get cakes or cupcakes, special meetings get lunches from greasy restaurants, morning meetings get bagels and muffins, afternoon meetings get chips and sandwiches. The reason so many of us are emotional eaters is because its constantly perpetuated by our culture. I am already packing on pounds from being tied to a desk and sitting all day, which makes me feel tired, moody and snacky. Then added to that is the persistence of readily available, tasty-but-bad-for-you eats and co-workers who dash in with eyes the size of saucers exclaiming that “THERE’S FREE FOOD IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM!”

I understand I need to get disciplined, but for an emotional eater with really intense body issues, this environment pushes every button I have and I don’t have the strength right now to always resist. I’ve always felt that corporations should take responsibility for creating a health conscious environment considering that so many of their employees are jacking up the health care costs with their heart-disease, diabetes and other bad health/obesity linked issues.

That’s my rant for today. I’m sure people will roll their eyes at me, I’ve always been marked as someone who “thinks too much” or “takes things too seriously” but to me, I see the whole picture. I don’t see an isolated, silly event. I see every American who struggles with weight or is addicted to bad food. I see it all and it makes me so frustrated. Oh, and no, I did not eat any ice cream today.

My name is Nicky and I have decided, after getting hooked to the ChoosingRaw blog, to start a journey towards a more raw lifestyle. I want to focus on eating organic foods that support sustainable agriculture. I want to change my health but I also want to make a difference with the way I eat. I call this “intentional living.” I want to live a life that is built around intentional decisions that are made with the planet, my health and my fellow man in mind. I do not want to be a robot!

I refuse to preach to anyone but I love sharing my opinions and information with people who have an interest. I feel it is irresponsible to go around this earth ignorant to how your choices in food, recycling, driving, consumerism in general, etc affect the world, your own body and other people. That being said, I was, for the most part, one of those ignorant people (in some respects) up until recently. I still have a lot to learn and I have a LOT to change. I invite you all on my journey to eat in a purposeful, earth-friendly, healthful and locally supportive way.

My goals right now are very long-term, I hope to have this blog for years and am able to chronicle a slow but permanent lifestyle change. I want to detail how I make the changes, what information and resources I use, and how I stick to it. I want to inspire and educate others. I want to be inspired and educated by others.

I also want to document how my new regimen changes my body and improves my health. Read my About page to get a detailed list of all my current ailments that I will evaluate every month or so to see if they have gone away or gotten less severe. This page also gives a description of my eating background and what kind of lifestyle I am currently living.

So, where do I plan on going? Right now, my year-long plan is to be 100% organic (at home) and 40-50% raw. I want to me mostly vegetarian or vegan, but I keep going back and forth on the meat issue (more on that later!). I want to be a CSA member (community supported agriculture), shop at the local Co-op and recycle all my plastics, cans, etc. These are my first series of goals. Once a year has passed, hopefully I will have achieved all of these and will be more educated about everything so that I can set more sophisticated goals for the second year like: composting, being 60-80% raw, having a little garden of my own.

Thanks for joining me!