A New 30-Day Challenge - Salad Style

One really interesting thing I have learned through all of my joint and inflammation issues (among so many interesting things!!) is to gear my diet to include a lot more alkaline foods and drinks. Apparently the sweet spot is to get 80% alkaline and 20% acidic.  This isn't just for those suffering from inflammation or joint pain, it's actually fascinating to learn all of the things that this type of diet can help with.  If you are interested, I highly suggest doing some research of your own, as I am certainly not an expert!

I have made so many changes with my diet over the past 4 or 5 years (removing meat, dairy, gluten,  & soda, reducing processed foods and sugar, increasing fresh, whole foods) but I have been feeling like I need to make more effort on this front. Switching up my diet to include more alkaline foods is likely to make a big difference in my health overall, including the dreaded inflammation I have suffered from for the past 3 years.  

Now, I love a good salad. Give me a big bed of spinach, kale, lettuce and I will happily pile it high with fresh chopped vegetables (sans dressing).  I am not, however, good at doing this regularly which is strange given how much I love it.  It just hasn't become a habit to include a salad into my daily diet for one reason or another.  Not to mention that it usually involves chopping whatever vegetables happen to be in the fridge and throwing them on top of greens.  Not a whole lot of planning involved.

So I am going to do a little salad challenge (similar to my bikram yoga challenge) to jump start what I hope will result in us incorporating salads several times a week, if not daily.  So I have been trolling through Pinterest to find some new salad recipes just to mix things up and keep it interesting.

Here are some that top my list...

Southwestern Chopped Salad - courtesy of The Garden Grazer

Meat-free, Dairy-free, Gluten-Free, Oh My!

As many of you know, my health has been a bit troubled the past few years due to severe inflammation in my joints.  I have spent countless hours going to doctor appointments, surgery, physical therapy and having a battery of tests done.  All of this resulted in a 'best guess' diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, with my rheumatologist saying that medication was the only way to ease my aching joints and all of the unpleasant side effect that came along with it. (I won't bore you with the details.)

Sustenance Sunday: A Very Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Chris and I have been vegetarian for a few years now, and to be honest I don't miss meat a single bit. Though we do eat fish on occasion, so technically, we are pescetarian.  Which just makes us sound like snobs.  So we stick with vegetarian.  However, as the holidays approach, the first thing I think of is turkey.  Not that I necessarily miss eating it myself, but turkey = Thanksgiving, right?  

Well, we are visiting friends for Thanksgiving, so we might have to save some of these recipes for Christmas (hope my family is open to trying some of them!), but here is a roundup of mouth-watering vegetarian recipes for my veggie-loving friends out there.

Sweet Potato, Onion & Fontina Tart

Festive Chickpea Tart

Maple Tempeh (with or without the quinoa)

Roasted Vegetable Galette

Pumpkin & Black Bean Casserole

Butternut Squash Baked Risotto

Pumpkin Hummus

Stuffed Curry Sweet Potato

Sauteed Brussel Sprouts

Mashed Root Veggies

Are you vegetarian?  Do you like to experiment with Thanksgiving recipes or stick with the tried and true ones you grew up eating?  

Let me know if you try any of the recipes above, and I will try to remember to do the same!

Veggie Life: Protein Pasta?

Okay, I feel like I have an obligation to share something with you, my three loyal readers. :)

As a vegetarian, I am often struggling with getting enough protein into each meal of my daily diet.  I really do try to incorporate it wherever I can, but am always eager to find new and healthy ways to do so.  Well, last year I found Ezekiel Bread, and it literally changed my life.  Not only does it taste great, but it is also a complete protein!  Meaning it provides all 9 of the essential amino acids your body needs to function properly!  Double win!  Yes, it still has carbs... let's not get ahead of ourselves here.  But our bodies need carbs of the healthy variety, people, so let's call a truce.  Chris and I enjoy this bread all the time.  And then, I found out that Food for Life do loads of other things as well: pasta (gasp!), tortillas, buns, cereal, english muffins (!), etc.

Pasta is not a common dish found in Chris and I's diet, but who doesn't love pasta?!  We usually opt for spaghetti squash instead, in an effort to fool ourselves into thinking we are eating the delicious comfort carbs we crave. But finding a way to add the real thing in such a healthy way is certainly a win for me.  And the best part is, that they have a few different types of pasta including, spaghetti, fettuccine, elbow, and penne. What more could you need?  Add a healthy (homemade?) sauce and some tasty grilled veggies and you are good to go!

A veggie blog that I love, is Naturally Ella, and she has some very tasty looking pasta recipes that I just might have to match up with our new pasta friend, Food for Life.  A few of my favorites from her site...?

Sweet Potato & Spinach Mac and Cheese

Spinach-Pesto with Roasted Red Peppers and Ricotta

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

Chris and I are enjoying being in the kitchen together as of late, so I might have to suggest a date night in sometime this week to make one of these tasty recipes!

On a side note, if you are scouring your grocery store trying to find it... the bread is located in the frozen section, and should be stored in your fridge once you get home (unless you plan on saving it for a while, then it can go in your freezer).  The pasta is typically in the "health food" section of Safeway, etc. rather than on the regular pasta aisle.

Happy Sunday!

A Twist on Vegetarian Enchiladas

Last weekend, I caught the cooking bug (a bug that had been lacking lately!) and decided to make a tasty dinner for my hubs.  What was on the menu, you ask?  Healthy vegetarian enchiladas!  It was a random, throw-things-together-and-see-how-it-tastes kind of cooking experiment, but they ended up tasting amazing! (I love it when that happens...)

Since there wasn't a specific recipe I was following, I will do my best to do one on the spot for you.

8 - white corn tortillas (I prefer them to flour...)

1 cup - black beans

1 cup - fresh spinach

1/2 cup - tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup - avocado, chopped

1/2 cup - cheese of your choise (I used Tillamook Cheddar)

Medium enchilada sauce (I used sparingly, as I don't like them smothered in sauce.  I put some inside each enchilada and then put a few spoonfuls over the top of the completed dish before I popped it in the oven.)

I pre-cooked my shells so that they wouldn't crack when I rolled up each enchilada.  It worked like a charm!

This is such an easy dish to make, because you really can include any vegetables, etc. that you have on hand.  I might have to make some of this on Thursday night to enjoy while I am recovering from surgery.

Let me know if you make your own version of these enchiladas, or if you try my recipe above!  I hope you enjoy it!