Strive for Five

Introducing my Strive for 5 initiative!! A list of simple 5-based guidelines to help you live a healthier life. I hope this helps you remember how eat less processed food, and get enough of the good stuff on your plate each day!

A little background on how it came to be...The other day, I was working on some marketing material for a show I'm doing this week. Thinking about signs and advertisement, and how to draw people in.  I decided to focus on the real food movement this time, as it's January, and so many people are thinking about goals and diets and eating healthier. 

I came up with the idea of doing a raffle drawing for a few Real Food items that you can find in your mainstream grocery store. I was creating the sign for display and I typed "Strive for 5 ingredients or less on your packaged food".  Strive for 5-- cute! Then it hit me, there are many other things that come in 5's when it comes to being healthy.

STRIVE FOR 5 (the details)

5 Ingredients or less in packaged foods. I originally started eating less processed foods by following a plan called “100 Day of Real Food”. It starts with a 10 day challenge of and becomes a lifestyle choice. Start looking at your nutrition labels, not just for the fat and calorie content, but for the ingredients list as well. Strive to find foods that have 5 or less ingredients listed. Less ingredients is better, but be realistic too-- Condiments are tough! I choose to just use them minimally!

5 Cups of Vegetables and Fruits. To be clear, this is 5 cups of vegetables and fruits combined. This is the USDA recommendation. What counts as a cup? Without being too exact, 1 Cup of 100% juice, ½ Cup dried fruit, 1 average size hand fruit (apple, orange, grapefruit, banana, etc), 1 C chopped raw or cooked vegetables, or 2 cups of leafy greens

5 Ounces of whole grains.  It might be hard to think of grains in this “Ounce” proportion. Here are some common equivalents; 1 small biscuit, ½ cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 4-inch pancake, 3 cups popped popcorn, 1 C cold cereal, ½ C cooked rice or pasta, or 1 small (6 inch) tortilla. While I’d like to see you eat as many whole grains as possible the message of the USDA is “Make half of your grains whole”.

5 Ounces of Protein. Protein is important for building muscles and keeping you feeling full. Per the USDA: “In general, 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish, ¼ cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds can be considered as 1 ounce equivalent from the Protein Foods Group.”

5 Teaspoons or less of oils. Oils are not a food group, but they do provide essential nutrients. Use oils sparingly in cooking, and try to get healthy oils from nuts, olives, fish and avocados!

5 One-half cups of dairy. Ok, so the real recommendation is 3 cups per day, but I had to make it fit into my rule of 5! Choose low-fat dairy as much as possible. There are 5 categories of Dairy: Milk, Yogurt, Cheese, Milk-based desserts, and Soymilk. Assume 1 cup of food = 1 cup of Dairy, with the exception of cheese, which can be considerably more or less depending on variety. Check the USDA (myplate.gov) website for clarification on all of these food amount recommendations.

5 Hours of Exercise! Get Active! This doesn’t mean you have to run for an hour 5 days a week! But get out there and walk, play with your kids, or actually hit the gym for 45 minutes every day!

This about sums it up. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing!!

No-Cheese Sauce

This is straight from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook (p29). I will say- this will never replace cheese, but I think if you were making a Mexican dish and wanted to add some flavor and cut the fat of cheese, you could sub this in. Or maybe cut half the cheese with this mix! I think it would be really good in chicken enchiladas. Or as a chip dip- cut with plain yogurt or sour cream.

Makes 2.5 cups
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 1.5 cups)
3 tablespoons cashews, toasted, optional
1 tablespoon tahini, optional
1 cup nutritional yeast
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender in the order given and puree until smooth and creamy, adding up to 1/2 cup of water if necessary to achieve a smooth consistency.

Thoughts? I have no idea if I really understand what nutritional yeast is... but I've used it a few times in recipes from this book, and it really does make things creamier!

What I did differently? I really don't like raw onion, and the book calls a variation of roasted red pepper. So I roasted the onion and pepper myself. I also skipped the tahini as I didn't have any in the house.

Results? It tasted a little like queso. Think of this as you think about where you would use this.

Would I make it again? Yes, but as I mentioned earlier, I would make it as a dip or a filler. In this case, I put it on a plate of nachos in place of cheese, it was pretty good.

Pork Chops with Apple & Wine Sauce

For starters, the real name of this recipe is "OMG Chef Michael Symon Tweeted Me!" Pork Chops...

So... let's start with the background for this recipe. If you've read this blog before, you know that I am in love with the show The Chew and Iron Chef, Michael Symon.  Keep that in mind as we go along. This Christmas, I asked for, and received a cast iron skillet. While I know how to cook and care for a cast iron skillet (never soak it in water, just wipe out and dry), I've never used one that's brand new. It was New Years day and I was researching what to do before it's first use online, so I tweeted Chef Symon and asked him what to do. It was less than a minute later, and he responded! I jumped out of my chair and laughed! And... immediately posted it on Facebook! :)

So Chef Symon, the only way I know how to thank you is to cook some pork! Thanks for making my 2013 just 11 hours into it!

I just kind of threw this together, it's what sounded good. Sorry it's a little rough on the details.

Ingredients:

My new Skillet- And the Pork Chops!

2 boneless pork chops, thinly sliced

1/4 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 apple, diced into medium chunks

2T golden raisins or craisins

1/4 C white wine

1/2 T cornstarch

salt/pepper/oil/red pepper flakes (all optional, and to taste)

Heat skillet over medium high heat, with a tablespoon of oil (I use grapeseed oil). Season pork chops with salt and pepper, and place into skillet when oil is hot. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side (hint- don't move it around just place it in the pan and flip).  Remove chops from pan and set aside.

Add onions to the pan and let them cook until soft (4-5 minutes) Meanwhile toss the apple chunks with cornstarch and place in the pan. Cook for one minute, then add wine, raisins and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring sauce to a boil- and slide the chops back in to reheat and cook through.

You can decide if this is one serving or two. Personally I ate this all myself. But if you served with roasted potatoes and a side of steamed broccoli- this could probably serve two! :)

Just for fun... here's my Twitter interaction!

One Word Workshop

Today I invited some friends over to my house for a One Word Workshop. The instructions were simple, instead of making a New Years Resolution, pick one word to focus on all year. Use the word in as many different ways as you see fit! It was fun to hear everyone's stories about why they picked their words. It seemed the hardest part of the day was deciding on background colors.

Boards in the works!

NOURISH is my 2013 word

As a Fitness Chef, my word "Nourish" has some pretty obvious meanings. But, to me it's about feeding my brain and relationships, not just my body! You can read the post I wrote about my word HERE.








My friend Diana and her step-daughter arrived first. Emily didn't have a word picked out but after a few minutes of chatting about how she wants to read and study more this year... she ended up with FOCUS.

Emily's got FOCUS!

Diana's already RELAX'd

Diana is busy planning a wedding, and running her own business... so RELAX seemed like a great word for someone who has a lot going on in 2013!  Although this picture might make you believe she's already found it!

ELASTICITY... it's a big word to live up to!

My mom came next! She was prepared she had her word "Elasticity" and all of her reasons for it. She even had some dragonflies (her favorite) already picked out. It took us a few tries to make her letters fit, but in the end she really liked the way hers turned out!










Next up - Kim and her twin 8 year olds Erika and Ella. They are a scrapbooking family, and they came prepared for the event. We didn't get Kim very far on her word FAMILY, but she's got it all planned out. The girls appeared to have a great time, and were excited to have their photos taken with the boards. FOCUS and DREAM seem like perfect words for these two! I was told I started a trend with the family.  :)

Ella's a DREAMer!

Erika's  FOCUSed in on 201

Working away!

Jen came over to check things out. Deep into her own craft projects at home, we decided she was "crafted out". But, she had picked her word, BELIEVE. I kind of forced her to do something. So we wrote her word in glitter on a wood craft stick! She plans to hang it above her list of goals at home (goals that include a half-marathon!)... because she's my neighbor, I'm sure I will be able to get her to stick to it! (Ha- no pun intended)

Jen BELIEVE's  2013 is her year!

A few others couldn't make it to the party. Jess picked her word CHOICES. I'm personally excited about being able to throw this one back at her throughout the year... Jess- are you making good choices?

Jess is making good CHOICES

I know a few other friends chose the words FINISH, ACTION and CONFIDENCE as well as another friend who chose to make an inspiration board this year.

My cat Sixx finally came out of hiding after everyone left... I'm pretty sure her 2013 word is PLAY, as she immediately jumped on the table cloth I'd tossed on the couch.

Sixx PLAYing

All-in-all, it was a really great day! I was happy that I got to bring the One Word concept to so many people! I continue to count my blessings that I was ever introduced to Jon Gordon and his work. It has changed me in so many ways!! Did you choose One Word? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

This one is straight from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook. This is quite possibly the best Vegan cookbook I have ever seen!! I happen to have some pumpkin puree in the fridge and a loaf of stale french bread.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C pumpkin puree

1 C plant based milk

1/2 C Maple Syrup

2t Vanilla Extract

2T Cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

8 slices stale whole-wheat bread, cut into one inch cubes (about 6 cups)

1/2 C golden raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Have ready an 8x8 inch nonstick or silicone baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk maple syrup, and vanilla. Add the cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves and whisk well. Stir in the bread cubes and raisins, and toss to coat completely.

3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and firm to the touch. Serve warm.

Protein Powders and Meal Replacement Shakes

It's that time of year. Everyone is looking for the quick fix to eating healthier. I get a TON of questions about vitamins, protein powders and shake programs. So here is my breakdown.

Let me start by saying EVERYONE needs a supplement. No matter how clean you eat, it's practically impossible to get all of the nutrients you need in a reasonable amount of calories. So please, take a multivitamin. Do your research. I choose a product called Reliv. I've been on it for over a year, and have noticed dramatic improvements in my digestive health, and sleep patterns. But I'm not here to sell you on my multivitamin!!

Next up... protein powders and meal-replacement shake programs. Here's my opinion. Try food first. I know you think this might be your problem (too much food, that is), but if you are willing to make the commitment to shakes and a "diet", you should be able to commit to a real food program. I have tried using shakes/powders, and they don't satisfy me. I like food! I want to EAT my meal, not drink it. I found myself eating more calories because I still needed the crunch and flavor of actual food. That being said, if you think you want to do the shake thing - try making smoothies with yogurt, almond milk, peanut butter, spinach, avocado, bananas, etc. (Just not all of these together, yuk!) There are a million smoothie recipes online, so google it!

My other "beef" with shakes is the chemicals. Call me hypocritical- I just recommended vitamins, which- if you read the ingredients, contradict the #1 rule of nutrition- if you can't pronounce it, don't ingest it. But, I still believe vitamins are a necessity. That being said, why would you double that by putting more of it in your body?

You will hear these shakes called "nutritional supplements". It's true, in some cases, your shake could be your vitamin. If that is the case, you should only be taking them once a day-just like a vitamin. My dislike of these programs comes when you start seeing "diets" that require you to drink 2-3 shakes a day, taking some kind of energy drink to keep you focused in the afternoon, and then some kind of sleep-aid at night... all labeled under "good nutrition". Ugh. Are you seeing the problem here?

I know there are a million people out there who will disagree with me. "I need protein after I work out!" is the #1 excuse... guess what?! An apple with a Tablespoon of natural peanut butter, is a ton healthier for you- and you will feel better about yourself. And unless you are a body builder- you don't need THAT much protein after you work out.

So in review, I will say... Take a vitamin, and to quote Michael Pollan "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

2013 One Word: Nourish

Nourish; Provide with substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition

So, there it is...my 2013 One Word. Nourish. As a Fitness Chef, this word means so much to me already. In it's most obvious definition, I intend to nourish my body with healthy foods. But it goes beyond just my body, and includes my brain, mind, soul, relationships, family, home and things I haven't even thought of yet. And of course, this includes YOU, my reader, follower, friend. Not only do I want to Nourish myself in all of these ways, but I want to feed you all of my discoveries, so that you can grow into the healthy person you wish to be.I'm so excited to see where this word takes me!

Here is a photo of the sign I created. It's a 12x24 sign that is hanging over my dining room table! The letters are formed with dried beans, grains, lentils, and corn. I love it!! And since I study at my dining table, I look at it regularly!



If you have questions about the One Word movement, please feel free to contact me.

Here is a link to a short video about picking your own One Word!

If you live in the Twin Cities area, I'm hosting a One Word Workshop on January 5th! Come and create your sign! Contact me for details.

Best of luck to you in fulfilling your dreams, goals and adventures of 2013!