Category: Getting More Veggies

Sweet Potato Mashup: A Thanksgiving Must

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Sweet Potato Mash

Sweet Potato Mashup

Hate to admit it, but sweet potato mush is the one thing I continue to pass at the Thanksgiving feast. Even with its beta-carotene-rich orange goodness, it just doesn’t tickle my tofu.

Until now.

Determined to one day fall in love with denture-friendly sweet potatoes (of course sweet potato fries have always been a favorite), and inspired by Kathy’s Famous Sweet Potato Mash, it has happened. I am in love with this sweet potato mush!

Sweet Potato Mashup
Makes 5-6 cups (about 10 ½-cup servings)

2 large sweet potatoes, baked or boiled
1 cup vidalia onion, chopped

1/3 cup garlic hummus
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh tangerine or orange juice
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt/pepper to taste


1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.

2. Mash well, but leaving some chunks.



3. Heat/reheat over the stovetop, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes. 

Nutrition info per serving: 68 calories, 2 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 80 mg sodium, 11 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3.5 g sugar, 2 g protein, 43% vitamin A, 3% iron

My version has fewer ingredients than Kathy’s, but please check hers out. Her photos are profesh and her ingredient combos (in this recipe and others) are uniquely gut-pleasing. I don’t know if it’s the garlic hummus, the fresh garlic, the raw onion, or the parsley, but this is definitely a must-try. Hello, Thanksgiving, and hello, orange taters!

Happy healthy holidays!

Thyroid Demystified

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Hd-butterfly-pictureWondering about soy, cruciferous veggies, all the different types of thyroid hypers and hypos, why there’s a picture of a butterfly here, or just want some new cocktail party convo material? Check out this new post on KrisCarr.com. Thyroid Demystified!

2 Must-Drink Summer Power Smoothies

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I’m on a new kick this summer — I’ve dropped the breakfast oatmeal and bran flakes and have become a blending maniac! EVERY morning, I throw a bunch of colorful plant matter plus some seeds and perhaps a yummy powder into my Vitamix, blend it, and go. If there are leftovers, I pour them into sealed glass jars and guzzle later in the morning. Here are my 2 favorite blendcoctions:

Daiquiri Power Tower

Daiquiri Power Tower

Chia Daiquiri
Makes 3 12-ounce portions

2 cups frozen organic strawberries
1 banana
Handful organic kale leaves (lacinato or dinosaur kale are my fave), spinach if the kale is too kale-ey
1/4 cup chia seeds (get them at Costco: $10 for a 2-lb. bag): Awesome source of LDL cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber and heart-healthy Omega-3’s
3 cups fortified non-dairy milk such as unsweetened coconut milk: Great source of calcium and vitamin D
1 scoop Vanilla Almondilla Vega One Energizing Smoothie powder: Superstar for protein, fiber, and sweetened with stevia so low-sugar too!

Blend, pour, and go!

Nutrition Info per 12-ounce serving: 246 calories, 12 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrate, 14 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 11 g protein, 90% vitamin A, 141% vitamin C, 30% vitamin D, 25% calcium, 14% iron.


Brown Hippie
Makes 3 12-ounce portions

Not pictured, because you might not try it! It’s brown, people. Close your eyes and enjoy!

1 cup frozen organic blueberries
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 banana
Handful organic spinach leaves
3 cups fortified non-dairy milk such as unsweetened soymilk: Great source of calcium and vitamin D
1 scoop vanilla hemp protein powder (such as the one from Trader Joe’): Super rich in protein, Omega-3’s, and insoluble fiber
1 frozen cube wheatgrass juice (optional): adds nature’s richest edible source of chlorophyll – a natural detoxifier and blood pressure reducer

Blend, pour, and go!

Nutrition Info per 12-ounce serving: 220 calories, 5 g fat, <1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 33 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 19 g sugar, 12 g protein, 31% vitamin A, 37% vitamin C, 30% vitamin D, 32% calcium, 25% iron.

Ta da! 🙂

Raw Food 3-Day Recap

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nutsWell, I *just about* survived 3 days of raw. I had one minor, and very conscious slip-up on Day 2: a handful of multigrain pita chips.

All in all, it went well and I felt very light and energized. I get such a rise out of trying new things and challenging myself to leave my cozy zone. To be honest, my biggest worry with 3 days of raw, was how I was going to curtail my nightly PB & banana open-face sandwich habit. During Detox days, I have natural PB on a rice cake with banana slices, which is completely easy. Turns out, a sliced green apple with cinnamon and a cup of tea is a delicious substitute. But also turns out that a return to my PB & banana open-face sandwich on Day 4 was complete and total heaven. Sorry raw!

So, what I actually really learned is that I wasn’t properly prepared for 3 days of raw. I figured I could handle 3 days of raw fruits, veggies, dried fruit, raw nuts and seeds, and smoothies without doing any extra grocery shopping or fancy new food prep. But, by Day 2, I got tired of the limited raw fruits and veggies I had on hand, felt unsettled, and grabbed pita chips. I also found that I was eating a ton of extra calories by snacking on nuts, seeds, and dried fruit all the time. As a dietitian, you acquire an inner calorimeter, with alarms. Those alarms kept going off!

In retrospect, I probably picked the 3 toughest days to try anything new–they were super busy and full of deadlines and extra tasks. I made green smoothies in my son’s preschool class (which were raw, and fun!, but I had less time to focus on my rawness). I didn’t even have time to juice, let alone make my scrumptious Pulp Crax. My breakfasts were fruit and a Larabar every day, and that felt like cheating, especially all 3 days!

I *did* try a raw soup recipe the first day: blended raw hemp milk, mushrooms, kale, raw cashews, hemp milk, smoke seasoning, and water. It was AMAZING on Day 1, but simply did not last in flavor for Day 2. I trashed the rest and had trail mix and salad that day. Followed by the aforementioned pita chips — my excuse is that I was at work and didn’t have enough other raw gear on hand.

I also tried (but haven’t yet perfected) raw kale chips in my oven, although I learned that my oven only goes as low at 170 degrees, which is technically too hot. Why did I garage sell that food dehydrator that I insisted upon as a high school graduation present!?

On the complete upside, I discovered my new favorite non-chocolate dessert: Medjool dates, pit removed, and stuffed with raw almond butter. OH. MY!!!!

So, next time, I will plan better, and take more advice from this Raw Pantry Essentials list. I didn’t realize I could’ve eaten Nori sheets. I have a 25-pack in my pantry and could’ve totally gone to town on those!!

Raw Diet: I am not done with you!

Anyone else try/ succeed/ learn?

Detox Day 6: Thinking About Days 8, 9, & 10….

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Mmm! A half-plate of veggies

Happy Day 6! What’s the latest? Still feeling good? Sleeping well and feeling energized? Now is a perfect time to start thinking about what happens the day after tomorrow. Will you go back to your pre-Detox eating? A modified version? Take today and tomorrow and make a plan for what you’d like to do long-term. Here are some popular, healthy, and realistic post-Detox modifications to consider:

1. Go back to drinking the morning cup of coffee you missed, but with vanilla almond milk instead of cream and sugar. Try this creamy, dairy-free concoction. Or, enjoy green, white, or black tea as your morning caffeinated beverage.

2. Continue eating the level of fruits and veggies with a giant heaping of cooked veggies at either lunch or dinner, and a giant serving of raw veggies at the other meal. Shoot for HALF your plate being veggies (either raw or cooked) at mealtime.

3. Continue with shakes or smoothies in the morning, but add a protein powder such as this hemp seed one from Trader Joe’s or Planet Fusion’s Vanilla Plant Fusion. High in protein, fiber, and essential amino acids, and makes your morning drink more filling.

4. Add a more substantial morning meal such as gluten-free oatmeal (Trader Joe’s has amazing gluten-free oats that seem exactly like traditional rolled oats) with a handful of dried cranberries for sweetness, raw cashews, cinnamon, and cooled down with a dash of unsweetened non-dairy milk. Or heat up a cup of cooked quinoa from the previous night’s dinner with dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, and non-dairy milk.

5. Enjoy a raw food bar in the afternoon to satisfy your sweet tooth–they’re easy to keep on hand, easily survive life in the bottom of bags, and can be stepped on without changing shape. Examples: Larabar, Pure Energy, and KIND. These can all be found in any old grocery store, TJ’s, or Whole Foods.

6. Continue with the Detox as your constant (developing your own menus using the guidelines), and veer from the Detox for special weekend days, when you go out to eat (trying your best to keep with the guidelines, but allowing yourself those treats you may have been missing), have potlucks, or attend parties.

7. Do the Detox 1-2 days per week or 7 days a month, and a modified version on the other days.

What else will you do to carry on the healthy changes you made once the Detox is done? Hopefully you’ll all continue drinking all those energizing fluids!

Enjoy this day and the new, healthy you! XOXO

Detox Day 2: Groovin’ Along, My Day 1, and Juice Pulp Crackers

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Ladies of the Lettuce and Gentlemen of the Greens! Ah, it’s Day 2.

How did you sleep last night with less caffeine and more delicious water during the day? Better, I hope. And your willpower and “groovin’ it” mentality are improving, right? Hurrah.

For a fun read, check out last year’s Day 2 post on Why Detox, and Why SO MUCH Raw.

So here was my Day 1. I veer from the exact plan and make meals based on the guidelines. You can too!:

MORNING
Water with cayenne
Peppermint tea
Green juice (kale, celery, green apple)
Cucumber white tea (mild caffeine)

LUNCH (STARVING!!! Didn’t have time for morning fruit)
Dried green beans
Organic mixed green salad
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 block tempeh
rice vinegar, salt, olive oil dressing
Lots of water

SNACK
Hummus
Bell peppers
Juice pulp crackers (recipe below)
Peppermint tea
Water
More green juice (in hopes of arresting the mild headache)

DINNER
Lots and lots of sauteed Brussels sprouts
(olive oil, garlic powder, sea salt)
1/2 cup cooked lentils
Raw celery
Rice cake with raw almond butter
2 large glasses water

SNACK
Apple slices
Chamomile tea

Crashed out at 10pm.

Juice Pulp Crackers

Juice Pulp Crackers

Now, if you juiced yesterday, chances are you had a whole lot of weird vegetable waste. Nothing pains me more than throwing out anything even remotely resembling vegetables. In the past, I’ve tossed that into the garden, saved it in the freezer (and later tossed it in the garden), and one time I had a tremendously horrible experience turning it into crackers.

Yesterday, however, because one of the Detox benefits is that you develop a superhuman chef sense, I SUCCESSFULLY made juice pulp crackers. The recipe:

Pulp Crax
1 cup juice pulp, stems & other large chunks discarded
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon raw sesame seeds
1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients and then smoosh out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours with oven door opened a crack. (Or put in your food dehydrator for 4-6 hours).

Surprisingly good! Surprisingly UNBELIEVABLY good dipped in hummus.

Keep up the fun and enthusiasm, and let me know how you’re doing! xoxo

And….Go! Detox Day 1: Be Mindful, Set Goals

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Kale Celery Green Apple Juice

Kale Celery Green Apple Juice

Feeling fantastic already?!?

Hope you got completely sick and tired of gluten yesterday and stocked up on all those raw foods. It’s game day!

To start out Day 1, here’s last year’s video of the Green-Apple Juice in a juicer (ignore my daughter who thinks she’s Inspector Gadget). I prefer this concoction juiced vs. blended, but blending is perfectly wonderful too. If you’re blending and you don’t have a Vitamix or a Blendtec, consider using a food processor for the veggies and apples, and then blending that concoction with the water and ice. It’s likely to slide down easier. And, you can also substitute one of this week’s smoothies for today’s green juice. Surprise!

Juice vs. Blend? What’s the difference and why the extra appliance? Check this quick info by my pal Kris Carr. She talks chlorophyll and alkalinity–it’s worth a read. My juicer is the Jack Lalanne Classic Juicer –a brand new hand-me-down gift, and it works just fine. It costs around $100 if you buy it from their website. Just an FYI. I tend to use my Vitamix daily (green smoothies, soups, hummus, dips), and my juicer weekly. Not saying that’s perfect, just what I do.

So, TODAY. Be mindful of every tea sip and food morsel — believe you me, that morning fruit is going to be the BEST FRUIT you ever ate! This day is by far the hardest, but you can absolutely do it. Don’t forget, however, that you can increase your serving sizes of detox food if you’re feeling like you’re really low on calories (starving, hunger pangs, spacey-ness). Add fresh fruit, raw nuts and seeds, or an avocado for quick, extra energy, and carry those with you just in case. If the detox meal plan is very different from your typical, then Day 1 is going to be a big eye opener. Embrace the change!

And think about your Detox Goals today. What do you want out of this? To ditch sugar cravings, increase veggie cravings, or lose weight? Are you hoping to grow wings and fly by Day 7? Keep me posted!

And finally finally, you should have more energy today than you’re used to. Laugh louder, smile harder, and type more. I want updates in the Comments section.

Green juice cheers!

xoxo

Detox Day 6: Time to Start Thinking About Day 8

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Mmm! A half-plate of veggies

Happy Day 6! What’s the latest? Still feeling good? Sleeping well and feeling energized? Now is a perfect time to start thinking about what happens the day after tomorrow. Will you go back to your pre-Detox eating? A modified version? Take today and tomorrow and make a plan for what you’d like to do long-term. Here are some popular, healthy, and realistic post-Detox modifications to consider:

1. Go back to drinking the morning cup of coffee you missed, but with vanilla almond milk instead of cream and sugar. Try this creamy, dairy-free concoction. Or, enjoy green, white, or black tea as your morning caffeinated beverage.

2. Continue eating the level of fruits and veggies with a giant heaping of cooked veggies at either lunch or dinner, and a giant serving of raw veggies at the other meal. Shoot for HALF your plate being veggies (either raw or cooked) at mealtime.

3. Continue with shakes or smoothies in the morning, but add a protein powder such as this hemp seed one from Trader Joe’s. High in protein, fiber, and essential amino acids, and makes your morning drink more filling.

4. Add a more substantial morning meal such as gluten-free oatmeal (Trader Joe’s has amazing gluten-free oats that seem exactly like traditional rolled oats) with a handful of dried cranberries for sweetness, raw cashews, cinnamon, and cooled down with a dash of unsweetened non-dairy milk. Or heat up a cup of cooked quinoa from the previous night’s dinner with dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, and non-dairy milk.

5. Enjoy a raw food bar in the afternoon to satisfy your sweet tooth–they’re easy to keep on hand, easily survive life in the bottom of bags, and can be stepped on without changing shape. Examples: Larabar, Pure Energy, and KIND. These can all be found in any old grocery store, TJ’s, or Whole Foods.

6. Continue with the Detox as your constant (developing your own menus using the guidelines), and veer from the Detox for special weekend days, when you go out to eat (trying your best to keep with the guidelines, but allowing yourself those treats you may have been missing), have potlucks, or attend parties.

7. Do the Detox 1-2 days per week or 7 days a month, and a modified version on the other days.

What else will you do to carry on the healthy changes you made once the Detox is done? Hopefully you’ll all continue drinking all those energizing fluids!

Enjoy this day and the new, healthy you! XOXO

Detox Day 5: Alkaline and Feelin’ Fine

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Tahini Dressing for Veggies, in SKINNY DISH!

Woohoo to Day 5! You are just a few days away from multigrain tortillas! That is going to be one fantastic burrito 🙂

You may or may not have caught the acid/alkaline breeze in the Detox wind convo. Well, here’s the deal: Our blood and tissues love to be at a pH (measure of acidity/alkalinity) of about 7.35-7.45, which is slightly basic/alkaline. This is where your immune system is an immediate bad-guy destroyer and your overall health is sky high. As you loved learning in high school chemistry, the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 with 0 to 6.9 being acidic, 7 being neutral, and 7.1 to 14 being basic (alkaline).

Contrary to what you may think, foods that are more acidic do not make your blood and tissues more acidic. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Oranges, tomatoes = acidic. But shocker, they make your blood and tissues more alkaline. As you could have guessed, pretty much all veggies, fruits, dark leafies, unprocessed grains, and other healthy foods help to make your blood and tissues more alkaline, while meats, dairy, eggs, sugary goods, highly processed foods, coffee and alcohol make your blood and tissues more acidic. One reason loading up on healthy fluids, fruits, and veggies, and avoiding all the other foods is so good at helping you detox, is because you’re working the alkalinity. For more on pH, check here and here and here.

Now for some extra credit: Want to check your very own pH? Using your SECOND urine of the day, pee on one of these test strips (or ones similar). Is the Detox working? Hurrrahh!

You never thought this would be so much fun! Keep truckin’ and Happy Weekend! XOXO

Detox Day 4: Calories

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Broccoli Leek Soup, SKINNY DISH!

No doubt you’re feeling pretty jazzed that it’s Day 4. Afterall, you’re a Detoxing star! You’ve got your little ziplocks, you’re all smiles, and hopefully the days have gotten easier, the cravings for unhealthy foods are dissolving, and you’re feeling lighter and freer (but restraining from bra-burning…). Someone said the other day that this Detox is downright easy. Not just “not bad,” but simple! Well that’s exactly what I was hoping for. While challenging at times, it is completely doable and perhaps even enjoyable.

Alright, so what’s the deal with calories on this plan? Are you feeling lighter and freer because of the magic plant foods that raise your metabolism, the lower calories, or just because I keep saying that you’re feeling lighter and freer…. yoooou’rrree getttting skiiinnnnyyyy…? A little bit of all that!

Each Detox day has about 1500 calories at a minimum, 60-80 grams of protein, and around 50 grams of fiber. Adding extra servings of nuts, seeds, avocado, fruit, etc. increases all those numbers. This is not a starvation diet, juice fast, or air diet. It’s plentiful, nourishing, and reboots your body. It can be short-term or long-term. Either way, it should include supplemental vitamin B12 and vitamin D (the amounts in a common multivitamin are perfect). Both vitamins are needed because you’re not eating many–if any–foods that are fortified with these little dudes. Vitamin B12 is actually a bacteria found in animal-derived foods and dirt. I imagine you’re washing the dirt (and B12) off your produce (a wise move). Vitamin D is made in the body after sun exposure, and many latitudes aren’t getting adequate sun this time of the year. Foods that ARE typically fortified with B12 & D are non-dairy milks, cereals, and fake meats. So, not a bad idea to supplement when you’re relying heavily on raw foods.

As an example, Today’s Plan including a 2-cup serving of Purple Nurple, a 2-cup serving of Curried Lentil Stew, and all the other recommended serving sizes has 1459 calories, 61 grams of protein, and 49 grams of fiber. The average American gets about 12 grams of fiber a day. You may or may not have been the average American prior to this Detox. Regardless, you are moving some serious crud out of your system. Cheers to crud movement!!

So, March On!, and clean, cleanse, and recharge your core some more. Just a few days left!