T20 BP Day 1

 Day one of Dr. Furman's Transformation 20

Breakfast

Banana Walnut Breakfast

1serving

1 banana
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup walnut pieces
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Slice banana into a cereal bowl. Stir in flax seeds, blueberries, walnut pieces, and non-dairy milk.

Thoughts:

This was good! The frozen blueberries made the almond milk turn a beautiful color of purple. It was tasty and filling.

5/5

Dinner

Creamy zucchini and corn soup

3 servings

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic,
2 lb zucchini (about five medium), chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups no salt added vegetable broth
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons unhulled hemp seeds
4 cups spinach
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1/4 tsp. Black pepper or to taste

Add onion, garlic, zucchini, basil, time, oregano and vegetable broth to a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Pour into a high powered blender (in batches, if necessary), add the cashews and hemp seeds and blend until smooth and creamy.

Return soup to the pot, add corn and spinach, bring to a simmer and cook until spinach is wilted. Add water if needed to adjust consistency. Season with black pepper.

Thoughts:

I made this wrong. First, I sauteed the onion and garlic with about a Tbsp of avocado oil. I used fresh basil. I misread the recipe, and blended about half of the zucchini mixture with the cashews... Oh, and I used homemade chicken stock I had on hand. Also forgot the hemp seeds!

It was alright. Not the worst Dr fuhrman soup I've had. My alterations probably improved it a bit :)

3.75/5

salad

0

Best-Ever Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad Sandwich with Fruit, Kettle Chips, and Key Lime Soda

I'm not sure if it's because I'm pregnant or just love chicken salad, but I've been craving it for a while.

After a late night fall down the rabbit hole of the internet, I randomly came across a video on Youtube with two very entertaining guys making chicken salad. A serendipitous moment where preggo cravings and late night insomnia converged. I bought the few items (like fresh dill) that I didn't have on hand the next day.

Chicken Salad with homemade Mayo before being mixed in

I made mayo and that made a huge difference. Store bought would have been fine, but I was able to make the amount I needed and not have a ton leftover to gross out Andrew in the fridge. Also, making mayo with an immersion blender was so easy and I already had the all the ingredients. Win-win!

Best-Ever Chicken Salad all mixed and ready to eat

Best-Ever Chicken Salad
Recipe from How to Feed a Loon
Serves: 4 - 6

Ingredients
3 - 4 lbs of chicken parts (bone-in, skin-on thighs and breasts work
well) (you'll need about 3 to 4 cups of cooked chicken)
2 tablespoons quality olive oil
1 cup of seedless grapes, sliced in half (red and green varieties are great)
1 cup almonds, thinly sliced (optional)
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Kosher salt (start with ½ teaspoon, then add more, to taste)
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Rub oil all over the chicken pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (internal temp should reach 165 F).
4. Remove the chicken, let cool, then pull the meat from the bones and roughly chop.
5. In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, grapes, almonds, celery, scallions, dill & parsley
6. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon, mustard, salt and pepper.
7. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the chicken mixture, and gently stir until will mixed.
8. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
9. Serve on a bed of green leaves with sliced tomatoes and avocado. Or, serve on bread with green leaf lettuce. Add more toppings to your taste!
10. Enjoy!

Classic Homemade Mayonnaise
Recipe from How to Feed a Loon
Serves: 10

Ingredients
1 large egg*
1 large egg yolk*
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
½ teaspoon of Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon of hot sauce (optional)
1 cup of avocado oil, or olive oil, or combo of both
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Immersion Blender
*Although the risk of contracting illness from raw eggs is minimal, children, the elderly, and those with a
compromised immune system should avoid consuming them.

Instructions
1. Place all the ingredients in a vessel just large enough to fit the immersion blender.
2. Place blender all the way in, so the blades are touching the bottom of the vessel.
3. Turn on blender, and gently move it up, so the eggs are incorporating, and the oil and the egg begin to emulsify.
4. Continue, gently moving up and down, until thick.
5. Will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
6. Enjoy!

salad

0

Day 12 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars, Mexican Salad, Easy Vegetable Pizza Margherita Style

Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars Close Up

Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars

Breakfast: Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars

6 servings

1 medium ripe banana
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed
¼ cup raisins
1∕8 cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped dates
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons ground flax seed

Mash banana in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan that has been lightly wiped with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool on wire rack and cut into bars.

Refrigerate or freeze leftover bars and use them as an alternate breakfast. Limit -1 per day

Score: 8/10

Okay, so I actually just had some fruit for breakfast, but I tried the breakfast bars when I was visiting my mom. Since they are technically on day 12 I put the picture and recipe up. These bars were alright. They didn't stay together in a bar shape even after letting them cool for a while. The flavor, however was good. The serving size is also very small. Not a super filling breakfast. Definitely felt the need to supplement with some extra fruit. We also had them after coming home from the gym, so we were extra hungry :)

Mexican Salad (this time with the Avocado)

Lunch: Mexican Salad

Repeat from Day 1 (click here to see day 1 with recipe)

I really like this salad. Something about the salsa as a dressing just makes it. I actually had a ripe avocado this time (last time I had to use nuts instead). The avocado added some creaminess. Very good.

Score: 9.5/10

Easy Vegetable Pizza Margherita Style

First, I would like to apologize for the picture. It turned out blurry, so I tried to sharpen it up a bit and it looks terrible! Just know that the actual pizza was very pretty and very tasty.

Dinner: Easy Vegetable Pizza 

Repeat from Day 1 (click here to see day 1 with recipe). I also made this pizza on Day 6 instead of a salad. That time I added leftover artichoke hearts (click here for a link to that). This time I made it using a whole wheat pita a jar of marinara sauce from the pantry, sliced beefsteak tomato, fresh mozzarella, red onion and fresh basil.   

Ingredients all laid out, ready to go on pizza

Pizza before it went in the oven

vegan

0

Day 11 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Berry Bowl, Sweet Kale Salad, Easy Vegetable Pizza

Fresh Berry Bowl with Flax, Walnuts, and  Almond Milk

Back home from my trip to Oregon, and back on plan :)

Breakfast: Berry Bowl

1 ½ cups blueberries, strawberries, blackberries  and/or raspberries
1 banana, sliced
¼ cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or almond milk
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon ground flax or chia seeds

Top berries and banana with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with the walnuts and flax or chia seeds.

Score: 9.5/10

This is a repeat from Day 2 (click here to see it). This time I made it slightly different. I had chopped walnuts, so I used those instead of substituting pecans (like last time).  I had fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries... so good! Last time I had fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries. Both ways were tasty. I know I've said this before, but I'm saying it again. I love fruit.

Yum!

Here's the salad unmixed with most of the ingredients off to the side. The apple got cropped out, just know that it was there in all its pink lady glory ;)

Lunch: Sweet Kale
5 cups chopped kale, tough stems and center ribs removed 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1 small apple, cored and sliced 

1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds 

1 tablespoon raisins 

½ avocado, peeled and chopped 

Balsamic or fig-flavored vinegar 

Toss together all ingredients except vinegar. Finish with a splash  of vinegar.  Salad

Score: 6.5/10

This salad was alright. Good, but not great. I am not a huge fan of straight up kale salads anyway. The Sweet Kale Salad Mix by Eat Smart (we usually get it at Costco) is an exception. That salad does have a creamy poppy seed dressing going for it. This salad had a nice mix of sweet and sour. The acid from the lemon and vinegar balanced out the sweet apple and raisins. It could've used some more avocado. I didn't even know it was there most of the time. Also, 5 cups is a lot of kale. I got a bit burned out and wasn't able to finish the last bit of salad.

Another Veggie Pizza with Multigrain Flatbread Crust

Dinner: Easy Vegetable Pizza  (supposed to be Lazy Lentils)

1 large (100% whole grain) tortilla or pita 

½ cup low sodium pasta sauce 

¼ cup chopped mushrooms 

¼ cup chopped red onion 

½ of a medium tomato, chopped 

1-2 tablespoons mozzarella cheese, cubed 

1 Tablespoon dried basil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place tortilla on a baking sheet and warm for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes.

Score: 9/10

So, I keep making different variations of this pizza, because I keep craving pizza! This time I used Flatout brand flatbread (the Multigrain with Flax). It's only 100 calories, has 9 g of protien, 8 g of fiber and only 1 g of sugar. Not too shabby. It was crispy everywhere except the middle when I took it out of the oven. I put a lot of sauce and fresh tomatoes on top. I think that's what made it soggy. The sauce I used, Classico Riserva Roasted Garlic, had big chunks of delicious roasted garlic in it. The ingredient list on the sauce is pretty short. There's no added sugar, just tomatoes, roasted garlic, extra virgin olive oil, spices and sea salt. 

vegan

1

Day 1 of Dr. Fuhman 10 in 20: Soaked Oats, Mexican Salad, and Easy Vegetable Pizza

Soaked Oats and Peaches (Overnight Oats)

Breakfast: Soaked Oats and Blueberries (or peaches?)

½ cup uncooked old fashioned or steel cut oats
½ cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or  almond milk
½ cup blueberries
1 small apple, chopped
½ tablespoon ground flax seeds

Combine oats and non-dairy milk. Soak for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Mix in remaining ingredients.

I didn't go shopping last night, so I  used peaches in my overnight oats instead of blueberries. I happened to have a ton of peaches from our peach tree in our freezer. They added a much needed sweetness to the oats. 

After eating breakfast I looked at the Day 1 recipes and realized I forgot the apple, so I just ate it afterward.

When I've had overnight oats in the past, I've added a pinch of salt, cinnamon or vanilla, and honey to them. Along with frozen fruit I usually have a banana, nuts and chia seeds. This 10 in 20 recipe wasn't bad. I just missed the stuff I usually put in. Especially the salt and honey!

Score: 9/10

Soaked oats (overnight Oats) with peaches instead of berries

Mexican Salad before I mixed it up

Lunch: Mexican Salad

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
½ cup cooked black beans
1∕3 cup frozen, thawed corn kernels
¼ cup low sodium salsa
½ avocado, peeled and chopped

Toss lettuce with beans, corn and salsa. Top your salad with the chopped avocado.

 So, this was a very simple salad. I didn't have an avocado, so I used some chopped almonds.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed salsa as a salad dressing! So, after getting this salad ready, I didn't have time to eat it before I had to rush my child to preschool and make it to the gym to meet my workout partners. I'm not sure if having a 6 hour gap between breakfast and lunch made it taste better or not (9:30 am to 3:30 pm). Surprisingly I wasn't very hungry until about 30 minutes before I had my salad. I also ate a clementine and a few strawberries. Needed to get the berry portion of my GBOMBS in :)

Score: 9/10

Salsa did a decent job coating lettuce and acting as a dressing

Dinner: Easy Vegetable Pizza

1 large (100% whole grain) tortilla or pita
½ cup low sodium pasta sauce
¼ cup chopped mushrooms
¼ cup chopped red onion
1 cup frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped
1 tablespoon shredded non-dairy mozzarella-type cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place tortilla on a baking sheet and warm for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes.

After watching a vlog about day 1 of this plan by Cheri over at the watering mouth (video link here) I expected not to like this pizza. So, confession time - I was a cheater cheater, pumpkin eater. Instead of buying vegan cheese, which is usually just oils and chemicals (who needs artificial chemical flavor in any of their food), I opted for regular dairy. I know! Not even CLOSE to being on plan. Now If I'd had the time I'd break out the nut milk and agar powder to make my own. As a side note, Kite Hill's vegan ricotta and Parma's vegan Parmesan actually look pretty good if I ever need to buy vegan cheese.

Okay, the whole wheat pitta was pretty much cardboard when compared to regular pizza crust, but overall I liked it. Okay, My tomato sauce wasn't no or low-sodium or oil free, and having real mozzarella really upped the flavor too. Also, I didn't have dinner until 9 pm, so I was pretty hungry.

Score: 8.5 (if this were really Dr. Fuhrman approved, I probably wouldn't have liked it so much)

Yes, I used dairy cheese and the Organic Kirkland tomato sauce I had on hand

My pizza topping station! 

 I decided to have the broccoli on the side, steamed with some Ms. Dash 

vegetarian

1

Starting Super Immunity

I read Dr. Fuhrman's Super Immunity while Mark and I were in Victoria last weekend. I was so inspired that I decided to try all the recipes at the end of the book and post my results. I've decided to make the recipes in the order of the meal plan, but will give myself longer than 2 weeks to complete them all.

For each recipe I'll try to give the rating from Dr. Fuhrman's website, Mark's rating, and Jane's rating. Dr. Fuhrman's site uses a 5 star rating system. We will do the same. I don't want to give indiscriminate 5's (like it looks like a lot of people do on Dr. Fuhrman's site) so it will take something very special to rate a 5. I'll base my rating on the following criteria:

5 stars - Amazingly Delicious, can't wait to try it again!
4 stars - Very Tasty, will probably repeat this dish again some day
3 stars - Good, might possibly try again with some tweaks or if the ingredients are all in my cupboard and I can't think of anything else to fix
2 stars - O.K., wasn't awful, but probably won't try again
1 star - Nasty

With that said, let the cooking begin...

Forbidden Rice Breakfast
Mark and I both liked this recipe. I put a large dollop of Greek yogurt on Mark's (someone in the comment section on DF's site had suggested that) and I had mine au naturale. We liked it enough that we'll probably try it again some day - OK, like probably tomorrow since we have enough leftovers for both of us to have it for breakfast again.

Dr Fuhrman's site 4   Mark 4   Jane 4

Forbidden Rice Pudding Recipe
2 cups cooked forbidden rice
2 cups unsweetened almond or soy milk
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 large or 4 small dates, pitted and chopped
1 Tbsp currants
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp chia seed

First cook the forbidden rice either using a rice cooker or according to the package directions. Next, place all ingredients, except chia seed, in a medium-sided pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce heat and simmer on low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the chia seed, stir well, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.


Lunch was not super or full of immunity. No more needs to be said.

Instead we had Day 1's lunch for dinner. We started with Spinach Salad with Strawberry Sesame Vinaigrette. The first thing I need to say is that I've never liked Dr. Fuhrman's salad dressings. I was skeptical about this one, especially when I realized I was out of sesame seeds, one of only four ingredients. It was still wonderful.

We both loved the combination of the salad and dressing.

I wouldn't mind the dressing as a topping for waffles and fresh strawberries instead of whipped cream.

DF 5   M 5   J 5






I feel bad about the Tangy White Beans and Zucchini. I had planned on making the recipes strictly by the book the first time through.

Then when I started making this recipe I thought, "Hmmm, maybe this could use some mushrooms and onions."

So I added mushrooms and onions.

Then I thought, "Why this looks bland. I know, I'll add a can of fire roasted tomatoes."

So I did.

What I ended up with was nothing like the original dish. In fact, I thought it was just ok. This was sad since everyone seemed to love it on Dr. Fuhrman's site. One commenter even listed it as their favorite recipe.

We'll try it again at the end and see if it's better as written.

DF 5   M 4   J 3

vegan

0

Mom's Visit Day 5 - Portobello Wellingtons, Cafe Rio, The Artist and Raw Peppermint Patties

 Portobello Wellington with Shiitake Duxelle, Vanilla Glazed Baby Carrots and Roasted Red Potatoes

Mom saw a recipe circulating around the blogosphere that looked intriguing... Portobello Wellingtons, why not? We decided to make it for dinner. When we went to the grocery store we couldn't find the non-alcoholic wine and we debated on using cooking wine or mixing some grape juice with red wine vinegar (which I already had at home). We decided to go with the grape-juice-red-wine-vinegar option. We realized when we got home that we didn't have any grape juice, so we crushed and strained some red grapes. Um, the reduction didn't turn out so well. It was overly sweet and too thin. This made the bottom of the Wellington turn soggy fast.

The glazed carrots were a-maze-ing. Seriously, so good. The roasted potatoes were also delicious. The wellingtons... hmmm, I don't know if it was the fact that I didn't cook off enough liquid in the duxelle, or that I added too much to each wellington, but there was something off about it. Maybe the whole problem was that glaze, not sure. Don't know if I'd go to the trouble of making these again but Mom said that she probably would. The wellingtons weren't bad and they weren't that difficult, it was just too time consuming for something that we didn't love. Perhaps I'll give them one more chance and make everything properly.

Cafe Rio Black Bean and Rice Salad 

Okay, I just skipped over lunch. The mushroom wellington was just so exciting! Mom and I went to Cafe Rio for lunch and had their veggie salad. I love Cafe Rio and so does Mom. It wasn't vegan, but it was tasty. The salad came with a fresh hand made stone ground whole wheat tortilla, green chile rice, black beans, romaine, pico, guacamole, tortilla strips, cilantro, cotija cheese, creamy tomatillo house dressing and a fresh lime wedge.

After eating our Cafe Rio Salads, we went over to Cinemark 8 (the dollar theater in the same parking lot) and watched The Artist. It was a great film, we recommend it. Well, Andrew probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as we did (there was almost no talking).

Raw Peppermint Patties

After dinner we made raw peppermint patties. The coconut we used was too large and too moist. I think that when we make these again we'll use some different coconut. The recipe said to measure the cream filling into nine patties. This made them a little too thick. I'd probably try 12 patties next time. We dipped some of the patties in the chocolate once, some twice, and some three times. The ones that were dipped only once were the best. This could be due to the chocolate we used. We didn't make her raw chocolate recipe, we cheated and mixed our dark chocolate chips with some coconut oil (to smooth and thin it out). We all agreed that this recipe is a keeper! Andrew kept talking about how we need to make these often.

Mom and I went to a digestive health seminar tonight at the Orem Good Earth store. Kiki Roesch, MPC (a natural health and supplement educator from Nutraceutical) was the speaker. When we got home, I realized that I'd thrown the flyer away, so I can't give you the actual name of the seminar, but it was in the form of a question... It was very interesting, but I'm tired and will probably post about it later. 

vegan

0

Mom's Visit Day 4 - Mountain West Burrito, Salads, & Hunger Games

A&W Signature Green Smoothie 

We started our day off with a green smoothie that Andrew and I like to make a lot. I posted a recipe for it back when we were doing a green smoothie cleanse.

Mountain West Burrito in Provo, Utah

Mom and I went out for lunch today at Mountain West Burrito. It is a casual restaurant that serves large portions for reasonable prices. They try to carry local ingredients and I like that. We ordered two roasted veggie burritos with vegan cheese (Daiya), vegan sour cream (Tofutti), and whole-wheat tortillas. If we did it again, we would probably share the giant size that comes with guacamole and (vegan) sour cream. If I got this same burrito again, I'd get the vegan sour cream, but not the cheese. Mom said she liked it with both.

Fresh fruit salad with pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries
Green salad with romaine, spinach, tomato, zucchini, and mushrooms

We had a nice light dinner after a hearty burrito lunch. I love salad. Don't know why we don't have salad as the main course for dinner more often. I am so glad that we stopped by Winco when they were having their super sale on produce (it was during Summerfest which we didn't know about at the time). We have so much fresh fruit and veggies in our fridge right now. In fact, we cut up one of the pineapples and put the chunks directly in the freezer for later smoothie use.

Hunger Games the Movie

After dinner we went to the Water Gardens Theater in Pleasant Grove to watch The Hunger Games. The movie theater wasn't very big, but I like that the tickets are $3.50, you can select your seat online, and that there is no extra cost for online ticket orders.

vegan

0

Holiday Challenge Day The First (of many)

Yesterday was the first day of the challenge and I actually did it! Here is what I ate (Reduced Fat Wheat Thins not shown):

Cinnamon, Vanilla Oatmeal with Cranberries

Sauteed Vidalia Onion and Bell Pepper Salad with Black Beans

Green Beans with Salt and Pepper

Cashew Vegetable Korma

I love this 3 Month Food Tracker by Weight Watchers
I've never done weight watchers, but this thing is great!

vegan

1