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Filed under: food

Twinkies, Medicaid...sadness

I don't mean to be annoying with my "everyone should be healthier" spills but this is my blog, dammit, and I want to rant about it so I will......

I am so sick of walking through the grocery store and seeing the crap people are buying and feeding their families. It really disgusts me. I know...I don't want to be that person who lectures everyone about their health...and I don't really. And this might sound a tad...um...something... but here goes. Our welfare and medicaid system is being drained... by many people with health issues related to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. MY hard earned money is footing the bill. So it royally pisses me off to see people who are clearly taking advantage of that system next to me in the check out line with nothing but sugary, fatty, processed foods in their shopping carts. For instance...last night in walmart two women who probably weighed at least 350 pounds each were in the line next to me. I was buying dishwashing detergent and toilet paper as I don't buy groceries from walmart...but that's not the point. I look over and take a gander at their buggy. Soda...not diet (not that it would be any better for them)...sugary cereals, little debbie snacks, chips, frozen pizza, cookies, hamburger helper....CRAP. ALL CRAP...NOT FOOD. Not a single f'n vegetable. Maybe a canned one somewhere but it was probably hidden beneath the bags of chips so I couldn't see it. And it was probably corn...don't get me started on corn. I drive home and see all the cars in the line at the fast food restaurants and I want to scream. Seeing Food, Inc has really done a number on me about food... but more than that I'm beginning to realize a bigger issue that's at play here...NO ONE COOKS ANYMORE!!!! And by cook I don't mean putting frozen lasagna in the oven or browning meat for your hamburger helper. I eat more green vegetables in a day than I care to admit (it's kinda sad actually)...but there are people who get none in a week ...or longer. What kills me is that people think it's hard to be healthy...it's not. I can get a super healthy, nutritious, TASTY meal on the table in 30 minutes flat. You have to know how to use your kitchen...the simple basics of steaming, sauteing, baking, broiling...but for crying out loud...IT'S NOT HARD! I know alot of it is cultural...people eat the way they were raised and just don't have the information. But I think you'd have to be living under a rock to not know that potato chips and Little Debbie's aren't good for you.

Families don't eat together anymore either. Everyone just microwaves something and goes to their room. It just makes me sad. I know I get a very skewed view of society given the line of work that I'm in and the population I deal with...but if my tax dollars weren't going to support their poor habits I wouldn't get so worked up over it. And since I know what it's doing to our food supply and ecosystem I bothers me even more....it's like smokers who don't give a shit what they are doing to the rest of us. GRRRR.

Due to health issues I was forced to cut out processed foods and alot of other things from my diet. I used to be hooked on low fat graham crackers, jello pudding, yogurt, wheat thins...not that those are particularly horrible but they are highly processed and loaded with sugar. But anyway...after I cut out that crap I realized what it had been doing to my body and I was blown away...which is why I don't miss it one bit.

I BEG of you...watch Food, Inc...pick up one of Michael Pollan's books...either Food Rules or In Defense of Food....it's not a case for veganism or vegetarianism...it's a case for FOOD. Real food.

And just on a side note...this was my dinner...a bubbly, cheesy, healthy tomato florentine soup with a little bit of cubed tofu thrown in for texture, protein and joy! Made in less than 20! Followed up by chocolate mud cake which took about 10. Booyah! What did you have for dinner?

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Yummy Zucchini Bake

I made this for the first time the other night and got RAVE reviews.  It's sorta like a casserole...the almond meal sorta takes on the taste and consistency of Parmesan cheese...oh it's so good.  I used Vegan Gourmet mozzarella cheese but you can use any you like...or none at all.  I can't take credit for this one...I found it on a gluten free recipe site the other day and altered it a bit.  Her recipe didn't call for cheese but I decided to add some.  It would be phenomenal without.  The BEST Italian seasoning blend I have found is Mrs. Dash Salt Free Italian.  It's SOOO good and that's what I used here.  I'm going to attempt to attach a pic....it's from the site where I got the recipe...I'll make sure to take a pic of mine next time! 
 
Cheesy Zucchini/Eggplant Bake

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2 med zucchini sliced into circles
½ eggplant sliced into ½ inch circles then quartered
Vegan mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup sliced Vidalia onion
Almond meal/flour
Sea salt
Salt free Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Olive oil
 
1.     Coat the bottom and sides of a baking dish with olive oil and drizzle a little in the bottom.
2.     Layer ingredients in the following order:
Eggplant/Zucchini
Onion
Seasoning, salt, garlic
Cheese
Almond meal
--use onion sparingly and just sprinkle almond meal, cheese and seasonings as heavy as you desire. Avg about 4 tablespoons almond meal per layer. 
3.     Repeat layers, alternating eggplant and zucchini until all ingredients are used.  End with zucchini layer and topping with almond meal.
4.     Spray top of casserole with olive oil spray and bake, uncovered at 375-400 for 30-45 minutes or until brown. 
 
If you don’t like eggplant, this can be done with just zucchini or a combo of zucchini and yellow squash as well.  
 

I'm going VEGAN! Here's why...

So as most of you know I made some dramatic changes to my diet back in July.  I have always been a healthy eater (or so I thought).  I never ate fried food or fast food, I ate tons of veggies, I avoided anything that wasn't whole grain, and I tried to eat low cal and low fat.  Then after an eye opening revelation about my health I had to make some changes which included cutting out all dairy, gluten and sugar...even fruit and sugar substitutes were off limits too.  I loved fat free ice cream more than anyone in the world.  I loved yogurt and cheese...I LOVED apples.  I remember that I sat and cried...literally...because of how hard this was going to be and how much I was going to miss those things in my life.  The day I cleaned out the kitchen of all the off-limit foods there was practically nothing left but produce.  I sat and read labels for hours and discovered EVERYTHING I was consuming was packed with sugar...especially the low fat/fat free stuff.  It was all processed and packed with chemicals too.  I couldn't believe it.  Even stuff that I thought was healthy (like veggie burgers or fat free yogurt) was loaded with bad stuff. 
 
So the journey began.  For all of my adult life I have been so obsessed with the calorie and fat content of food (mostly because I used to be so overweight)...but I had to throw that whole logic out the window.  By cutting out sugar, gluten and most carbs, I had to fill my diet with more nutritious, filling foods like avocados, nuts, and oils. I started eating only WHOLE foods:  fresh produce, meats, and nuts.  At first I was paranoid because of how many calories I was consuming...but I began to lose weight.  I feel amazing now.  Everything has changed...at first my body went through a detox type reaction but that has leveled off.  Now I feel great, I sleep better and have tons of energy.  I have more endurance and strength and I've lost 20 pounds.
 
I have now decided to take it one step further...I have decided to go Vegan...at least for a few weeks and see how it goes.  I have read ALOT about the effects of animal protein on the human body AND the effects of all of the hormones, antibiotics and chemicals that are pumped into the meat that we eat.  I try to buy only organic/free range/grass fed meat but it's not always possible nor economical.  I love vegetables and eat mostly vegetarian as it is, so why not give this a shot.  And just think of all the brussel sprouts, eggplant, broccoli and rutabagas I can buy for the price of one pack of chicken!!!  I have heard that vegan eating makes your body feel wonderful.  I am not doing it because I feel bad for the animals...I just know how good I feel after cutting out the other stuff and want to see if I can feel even better!  The hardest part is going to be EGGS!  I love omelets and I use eggs in alot of the gluten free baking that I do...so that's gonna be kinda hard.  But we'll see.  Wish me luck!