What's in my kitchen ?!?!

I have been waiting for this moment for years, and it has arrived at last! I finally have my own kitchen. * Jumps for Joy * Literally, this was one of the things I was most excited about in coming to grad school.

Go ahead. Question my priorities.

 Anyway, I wanted to show you just how I stock my lovely new space, keeping it full of nutritious ingredients that will properly fuel me through the long days of graduate study. Maybe you’ll get some ideas of things to try out yourself!

 Ready to prepare oats, quinoa, rice and lentils. I will often have oatmeal for breakfast or a snack, and make big batches of quinoa or rice to have on hand all week for quick dinners! And of course, my kitchen would not be complete with some vino.

 In this bowl of fun I have spaghetti squash, which is also great to prepare and enjoy all week long, bananas, vegan dark chocolate, Lara bars, and Luna Fiber bars. Although I do prefer to only eat “whole foods”, where I recognize all ingredients, Luna Fiber Bars are not a bad option when I’m on the go and need some nourishment. I like them because they have less calories and fat than Lara Bars, yet are bigger!

 Spices! In preparing food without a lot of fat, spices are super important to amp up the flavor in every meal. I honestly don’t know what a bunch of these even taste like, but I am going to experiment and find out!

 My fridge! In my fridge I have tons of fresh produce; apples, clementines, grapes, berries, cantaloupe, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onion, lemons, ginger etc. I have some zucchini and corn ready to make for dinners, some tofu, hummus, and some quinoa I made earlier this week. Although I don’t eat that much bread, I have fallen in love with Ezekiel Bread. It is made completely of sprouted whole grains that are easy to digest, with no preservatives or strange ingredients (Look at your bread. Do you know what’s in it?). I have been enjoying the flax seed variety lately, which offers a bunch of omega-3! I also have some mustard, almond milk, and non-soy earth balance in there.

 In my freezer I have a bunch of items for when I’m running low on time. Amy’s Low Sodium California Veggie Burgers (non-soy), Amy’s dairy and gluten free burritos (nutritious and filling for 240 calories!), some microwavable veggies and quinoa from Whole Foods, a Kashi Frozen dinner with black beans, kale, and polenta, and more! I also have some fresh veggies I froze. It’s nice to have some things that you don’t have to cook right away, but can give you a great, fresh, option when your ready.

 My pantry is nice and full too! Here I keep all of my herbal teas (Pukka is a fabulous brand). These teas literally cured me of some stomach issues this summer and I swear by them (more on that later)! I also have my Vega One plant-based protein shakes, dandelion root instant coffee replacer, and of course all natural cocoa for a comforting warm drink!

I also have some ready to go meals from Dr. McDougall. I love his Pad Thai, curried lentils, and soups. By getting his products, you know you are purchasing wholesome meals without any additives, excessive oils/fats etc. I also have vegetable broth for cooking, pretzels for guests to snack on, more almond milk (unsweetened and Vitamin B12 fortified), almonds, beans for salads and dinner, and some peanut butter my mom bought.

Finally I have some cooking oils and pasta sauce to give my meals lovely flavor! I feel that oils are ok to have in moderation, just make sure you only use the bare minimum that you need =). On this shelf I also have some fresh garlic. Let me tell you, fresh always beats minced. Put in the extra effort!

And that’s it! I try to eat as many whole foods as possible. When I do buy pre-made meals, I am very particular about the ingredients etc., always buying from trusted brands such as Dr. McDougall’s, Amy’s, and Kashi. I make sure I understand basically everything that is in there, and that goes into my body! I like to keep my diet simple. I don’t do fake meats or soy cheeses, ice creams, and yogurts. I don’t snack on many crackers or cookies. To me they’re just not necessary.

What does your kitchen look like? Could you simplify a little? Do you know what’s going into your body? Remember, our entire body regenerates itself all of the time (different areas do so at different rates). So, what you fuel your body with is literally what makes up those new cells. It’s a little scary to think about when we’re not eating the best. However, it also gives us a huge opportunity to start again! I used to live off sweets, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and milk. That’s what my body was made of, then. But now, almost a year and a half after going plant-based, I know my body is made up of nutritious fuel instead of refined sugars and fat, and I feel better than ever. It’s never too late! Our bodies have the miraculous capability to heal them selves, given the proper care.

Be Well.

Love, Julie

Vegan Girl in the land of BBQ and Bojangles : Part 1

After a very, very long few days of moving, I am finally all settled in in my new home in Columbia! Let me tell you, I have most certainly “moved naturally” all week long (Blue Zones reference…go back and read that post!). After sitting so much during the summer, it’s felt great to be out and about all the time, even though it’s also been exhausting!

Anyway, I was very apprehensive about how many great healthy dining options I would have in moving down south. Here we have Sonic, Bojangles, Cookout, and some nicer restaurants that literally do not have a thing I can eat. But I must say, I am very, very pleasantly surprised by the options my new home has offered me thus far!

First stop when I got here was obviously Whole Foods, which is super close , thank goodness! This Whole Foods knocks the one in Massachusetts out of the park. Not only do they have tons of vegan prepared food options, but also each is very clearly labeled in a pretty blue. =)

Tonight, Mom and I decided to go somewhere other than Whole Foods and Chipotle for dinner, as we finally had checked everything off our to do list. Mom researched a bunch of restaurants in “The Vista” in Columbia. We decided to try out an Asian bistro. While trying to find it, we ended up at its sister restaurant instead. Boy am I glad we did!

M Grille, at 530 Lady Street in Columbia, is absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere is clean, simple, and sophisticated, creating a lovely fine dining experience. Upon arriving, one can see into the sushi bar and kitchen. I was very excited about how fresh all of the ingredients were. In looking at the menu, I could have eaten there for days! They offer an amazing assortment of vegetable sides, from eggplant, to bok choy, to asparagus. They also offer organic brown rice and a vegetarian sushi roll. Not to mention that their drink menu is amazing, offering many well-made, light and refreshing cocktails. Turns out M Grille only opened 9 days ago! Therefore, Mom and I got to enjoy the perks of a grand opening, with lots of free samples and excellent service. Feel free to drool at the pictures below.

M Grille Salad with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, micro greens and ponzu.

Poached Bok Choy. I have no idea how this was so amazing. It seems to have been poached in a vegetable broth with garlic or something along those lines. I am on a mission to recreate this! 

Vegetable Roll with organic brown rice, asparagus, cucumber, and sweet potato tempura.

Mom and I split the first two courses and each enjoyed our own veggie roll. It was an absolutely perfect light, fresh, and healthy meal. If you are in the Columbia area, definitely check this place out. By all means, check it out with me! I will happily go again =).

More tales of my southern adventures to come! (And more regular fun stuff of course)

Be Well.

Love, Julie 

The Film That Changed My Life: Forks Over Knives

I have told you that my wellness journey has been, well a journey! Let’s go back about 10 months ago. I was at my friend’s house for a small get together when one of my fellow health-nut girlfriends shared with me how she had recently gone vegan. I recalled seeing her tweet about a film called Forks Over Knives, and had looked into the film. Seeing that it focused on veganism (which I knew little about), I decided to ignore it. However, I couldn’t ignore her when I saw her. She shared a little of her reasoning with me, who responded:

“I’m way too much of an athlete. I need meat”

It’s funny looking back on that conversation. Now I am the one who tries to clear up unreasonable myths about protein, calcium etc. But that day, it was me who needed convincing. My friend gave me a short and sweet schpeil and simply encouraged me to watch the film.

And so, that night, I did.

My life changed forever. 

Forks Over Knives takes a look at the rising epidemics of obesity and chronic disease in America, and how it relates to the average American diet, and the American food system. The film is based off the research of Doctor T. Collin Campbell, and Doctor Caldwell Esseylsten, two men who grew up on cattle farms, but who’s professional medicinal research showed that the products of these farms were direct causes of cancer and chronic disease. The film does not focus on animal cruelty or anything like that. It focuses on people, and their health. In summary, animal protein, whether it be in the form of meat, dairy, eggs, or fish , along with refined processed foods, is scientifically, directly related to the emergence of cancer and chronic disease. When people in the film removed these things from their diet, they were able to heal themselves, get off of medications, halt cancer progression, maintain a healthy weight, reverse heart disease and diabetes, and live longer, better quality lives.

Hence, I am not vegan for the animals. I am vegan for me. I don’t want to get cancer. I don’t want to have clogged arteries. I don’t want to feel sluggish and sick. I want to live long. I want to live well. I never want to be held back because I abused my body, and it has given out on me. I want to fuel myself with pure, whole foods, filled with nutrients and healing properties. I do not want to fill my body with fat, refined sugars, chemicals, things I can’t pronounce, and animal proteins that have been proven in countless studies to be detrimental to my health.

Here are a few things the film focuses on:

The China Study- An immense study done by Dr. T Collin Campbell, which outlines the amount of each type of Cancer in each region of China. There was unbelievable statistical evidence consistent amongst populations of millions, which showed that rural areas who lived off a natural, plant based diet, had the lowest instances of cancer, while more urbanized and animal protein consuming areas had astoundingly high instances of disease.

Research of Caldwell Essylsten- His laboratory research showed how animal protein actually activated cancer genes, while its removal “turned cancer genes off” .

Calcium and Osteoporosis- America consumes the most dairy in the world. Yet we also have the highest occurrence of Osteoporosis in the world. But isn’t calcium necessary for bone health? In reality, the animal protein, casein, found in milk causes an acidic reaction in the body. Our body then tries to combat and buffer this reaction. It does so by drawing minerals and substance from our bones, often time leading to osteoporosis. There are plenty of plant-based sources of calcium which do not cause this acidic reaction, and truly promote bone health.

Protein- You really can’t be protein deficient without being calorie deficient. Our culture (driven by government subsidized industries) has taught us that we require way more protein than we actually do. Tons of athletes, from triathletes to UFC fighters are plant-based, and bulging with muscle. There is some amount of protein in every plant based food. Believe it or not, it adds up!

How to follow a whole-food, plant –based diet. – It is possible to be a junk food vegan. I mean ,Oreos are technically vegan. This film shares how to prevent and cure disease through the best medicine of all, whole, natural food, without any added sugars, fats, chemicals, or harmful proteins. It focuseson maintaining a lifestyle with a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. It is more than possible to enjoy delicious meals, while taking care of yourself too!

This film is truly incredible and offers hard to ignore information with real world examples . I’ve only covered maybe 5% of it here. If you are interested in taking the next step in improving your health and well-being, watch the film. It truly changed my life. Since, I have more energy, require less sleep, perform better during workouts, am less anxious about what I’m eating, and never have feelings of guilt about my diet. It took some trial and error, but soon became second nature. Now, I barely even think about how I haven’t had meat in 10 months. 

Check it out here: http://www.forksoverknives.com/

If you can take a step to protect yourself from cancer, heart disease, and more, why wouldn’t you take it?

Be Well.

Love, Julie

Super Easy Eggplant!

I’ve been loving eggplant lately. I have no idea why I do not buy it more!!! Someday I hope to make an amazing eggplant caponata. However, since I am currently in school, and ridiculously busy, I tend to go much more basic. Again, pardon my not so exact recipes. Hopefully this will just give you some inspiration and ideas! Notice there are no added oils in these recipes! Water does just fine as a binding agent.

I’ll start with the more complicated:

Super Easy Vegan Eggplant Parm:

You will need:

1 eggplant (or more depending how many people you’re making it for.)

Cornmeal

Whole Wheat or almond flour

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

Your tomato sauce of choice (I go organic and usually get one with basil and spices for flavor)

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Cut up your eggplant into half inch slices

3. Combine a mixture of one part flour and one part cornmeal (say about a half cup of each). You can also throw a little pepper/basil etc in there if you want!

4. Lightly coat each slice of eggplant with water and dip it into the flour mixture, just giving it a light covering. Then place each piece onto a baking stone or baking sheet with foil.

5. Put the eggplant slices in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they get a little golden.

6. Meanwhile, give the bottom of a glass baking pan a light coating of cooking spray. The size of your pan will depend on how much eggplant you are using. You want to be able to create two layers of eggplant.

7. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan.

8. Once the eggplant is slightly golden and out of the oven, place a layer of the eggplant over the sauce.

9. Cover the eggplant with another layer of sauce.

10. Sprinkle on your desired amount of vegan parmesan and mozzarella ( a little can go a long way!).

11. Create another layer of eggplant, sauce and cheese. This time make sure the sauce completely covers the top.

12. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

11. Feel free to add any of your favorite Italian spices etc and enjoy!

Lately however, I have been in a much simpler mood, not needing all of the cheese and “breading” on my meal. So, I have been whipping up some… 

Deconstructed Eggplant Parm

You will need:

1 Eggplant

Italian spices (basil, salt, pepper, Italian mix, oregano, whatever is your favorite)

Tomato sauce of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 375

2. Slice your eggplant into half inch slices

3. Coat each slice lightly with water and place on a baking stone or cookie sheet with foil.

4. Sprinkle desired spices over eggplant pieces, flip them and do the same on the other side.

5. Pop them in to over for about a half an hour. This will really all depend on your oven and the thickness of the slices. They will be done when they are golden brown and tender.

6. In the last few minutes, warm up your tomato sauce.

7. When the eggplant is done, pour sauce over and poof! Delicious, nutritious, simple meal.

This goes amazingly well  with spaghetti squash! (Check out my spaghetti squash 101 post from December)

I also love to use the left over eggplant plain in salads etc. So delicious!

Enjoy!!!

Be Well.

Love, Julie

Veggie burgers can be sneaky sometimes

Well, I’ve been home for a little over two weeks and it’s getting to be that time where this Miami girl has about had it with the suburbs of Boston. I’m used to being able to walk wherever, being active easily, and most importantly the warmth and sunshine. I always struggle at home, given how the spread out layout of my town makes walking anywhere not super appealing, and being so far out of the city doesn’t exactly bring the most exciting day to day activities. Now, I think I would do a lot better in the summer, with my drive to be active and explore new things. But it’s December, and snowing. I have been forced into hibernation. So, in attempt to not be sitting around all day (other than for my workout), I’m writing to you today at my make shift stand up desk on one of my dressers. I guess that’s something?

Anyway, back to business! Today I wanted to share a little about my journey in shifting my diet and becoming plant based. A main challenge in this was figuring out what a usual “entrée” for me would be. My roommate at the time was a vegetarian, and so I always noticed veggie burgers as her go-to. I decided to give them a whirl! However, I soon discovered that this would be a trial and error process. Not all veggie burgers are great for you! This post is for anyone who likes to occasionally enjoy a veggie burger, vegan or not. The right ones are awesome, quick, and convenient meatless Monday alternatives, and for me in college, an everyday staple.

Eating vegetarian or vegan does not necessarily equate with eating healthy. For example, a vegan could technically live entirely off of fake meats, fake cheeses, refined carbs, oreos, vegan ice cream bars, and other junk foods. They probably are worse off than a clean eating omnivore! This is why the diet I follow closely is actually called a “whole foods, plant based diet”. It stays away from chemicals, artificial and super processed foods, additives etc. While store bought veggie burgers are a “processed food” , it is possible to find ones made with mainly whole, healthy ingredients which provide you with great plant based protein and nutrients.

I started off buying a package of Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie burgers. First off, I learned it wasn’t actually vegan.

Threw that package out.

Then I bought their vegan burgers. It was around this time that I was doing more research concerning soy products. I’m still not quite sure what the deal with soy is. It’s a very controversial subject. However, when it comes down to it, things like soy beans and tofu are usually ok because they are soy in a natural or very close to natural state. When the soy is stripped down in various forms, creating oils, proteins, milks, and other not so natural things, is when it becomes iffy. Also, the issue of genetically modified soybeans is very important. Always always buy non-gmo. So, with this research, I decided to try and stay away from soy as much as possible other than in edamame, tofu, and occasional soy creamer form. This gets tricky. Some form of soy seems to be in everything, even bread! Therefore, try is the key word! Our best effort is always better than no effort.

Back to the burgers. After doing this research on soy, and learning more about how to pick proper foods, I looked into the ingredients of this burger (taken from their website).

WATER, TEXTURED SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CORN OIL, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, VEGETABLE GUM, NATURAL FLAVORS FROM VEGETABLE SOURCES, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY FIBER, SALT, CARRAGEENAN, POTATO STARCH, ONION POWDER, CARAMEL COLOR, DISODIUM INOSINATE, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, KONJAC FLOUR, SUNFLOWER OIL, SESAME SEED OIL, SOY SAUCE (WATER, SOYBEANS, WHEAT, SALT), CONCENTRATED ONION JUICE, ASCORBIC ACID, VINEGAR POWDER, CITRIC ACID, ASPARTIC ACID, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, MALIC ACID, SUCCINIC ACID, TARTARIC ACID, LACTIC ACID, WHEAT FLOUR, SOY LECITHIN.

…What? What was I eating? I have zero clue what the majority of these things are. Also, Morningstar does not list “non-gmo” on its products. Essentially the burger was some engineered, soy, something. What genuine nutrients and healthy protein was I getting from that?

Threw that package out

A more enlightened me headed out once again, this time to Whole Foods. I checked out Amy’s Organic veggie burgers. Organic…that was a good start! I discovered that some of their burgers are made with soy and some are not. I picked out the Light in Sodium California Burger. Here are its ingredients:

Ingredients : (Vegan) Organic mushrooms, organic onions, organic bulgar wheat, organic celery, organic carrots, organic oats, filtered water, organic walnuts, wheat gluten, organic potatoes, expeller pressed high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, sea salt, organic garlic. Contains tree nuts & wheat.

Whewf real food! All food that I can pronounce and recognize, Yay! Not to mention, this has a delicious flavor and “meaty texture” for just 110 calories a burger! Another great option for those who are gluten free is the Sonoma Burger. This one is a little heartier, made with quinoa. I love to throw these onto my George Foreman, and wrap them up in a lavash with red onion, mustard, spinach, and tomatoes! In the midst of the semester, this becomes by everyday dinner quite quickly.

Another awesome option that I have been eating more frequently lately is Dr. Praeger’s California and Tex Mex Veggie Burgers.

Ingredients: Carrots, Onions, String Beans, Oat Bran, Soybeans, Zucchini, Peas, Broccoli, Corn, Soy Flakes, Spinach, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Red Peppers, Arrowroot, Corn Starch, Garlic, Corn Meal, Salt, Parsley, Black Pepper.

Beautiful, just beautiful! The soy in this is actual beans, not textured soy protein. Warning: These burgers are green, and softer than Amy’s. Do not freak out! They are absolutely delicious. Give them a try. I also hear if you use a toaster oven to heat them up, rather than a George Foreman, they are not as squishy. Either way, they are amazing in wraps, or crumbled up into salads! They also seem to have a higher nutrient density than Amy’s which is why I usually pick these. But either makes a great choice!If I have a veggie burger for one meal one day, I make sure to get my protein in my other meals from my shakes, beans, or other more whole food things!

So, next time you’re in the mood for a burger, try it veggie style! Make sure to pay attention to what goes into it, so you enjoy the full benefits of the pure ingredients. Healthy choices come with trial and error. It will all come with time, attention, and research!

I hope this helps you avoid some of the same roadblock’s I ran into!

Be Well.

Love, Julie