Day 9 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie, Salad Stuffed Pita with Russian Dressing, and Buenas Noches Black Bean Soup

Breakfast: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

3 cups chopped kale, tough stems removed
1∕3 cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or  almond milk
1∕3 cup pomegranate juice or ½ cup pomegranate kernels
1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder
1 cup frozen cherries
½ ripe banana

Blend ingredients in a high-powered blender.

Score: 8/10

First things first, the color isn't very appealing. The cocoa powder was an interesting flavor, but I wish there was some honey or something to make it a little less bitter. Overall, a good green smoothie. I do love dark cherries :)

Lunch: Salad Stuffed Pita

1 (100% whole grain) pita
4 avocado slices
2 tomato slices
1 cup shredded lettuce or spinach
2 onion slices
Russian Dressing (see other recipe)

Lightly toast the pita*. Cut pita in half to form a pocket. Stuff with Russian Dressing and other ingredients.

*I chose not to toast my pita because last time I did, it turned into a cracker.

Score: 8.5/10

Eh. It was good. Tasted like a pita and veggies. The Russian dressing was a nice change of pace, but very strong on the balsamic flavor. Not sure I'd want it on a salad.

A serving size of the Russian Dressing

Russian Dressing

2 servings

4 tablespoons low sodium pasta sauce
3 tablespoons raw almond butter or 1∕3 cup raw almonds
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Blend together with a fork or whisk if using almond butter. If using raw almonds, blend in a high-powered blender.

Dinner: Buenas Noches Black Bean Soup

4 servings

1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 cups water
2 (15 ounce) cans low sodium black beans, drained, divided
1 cup low sodium salsa
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup diced tomatoes

In a large soup pot, combine onion, celery, carrots, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, water, and 2 cups of the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Place remaining black beans and the salsa in a blender or food processor. Blend on high speed until smooth. Stir into soup mixture along with the corn and tomatoes. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Score: 7/10

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Day 7 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Banana Cashew Lettuce Wraps and Cheesy Kale Soup

Romaine Lettuce, Homemade Almond-Cashew Butter, and Sliced Bananas

Breakfast: Banana Cashew Lettuce Wraps

2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
6 Boston lettuce or romaine lettuce leaves
1 banana, thinly sliced

Spread about 1 teaspoon cashew butter on each lettuce leaf. Lay a few banana slices on the butter and roll up like a burrito.

Score: 9/10

I was actually surprised that I enjoyed this breakfast. When I imagined fruit and nut butter with lettuce, it didn't sound appetizing at all! Not bad. I would try these again

Lunch: Leftover Chickpea Curry... Not very exciting. Also, I keep skipping the salads, which is not good. Dr. Fuhrman stresses that you should have at least one big salad a day and that should be the main dish when you do have it. Gotta work on that

Cheesy Kale Soup

Dinner: Cheesy Kale Soup 

4 servings 

½ cup dry yellow split peas 

1 onion, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, sliced 

2 cups carrot juice or low sodium vegetable broth 

1 ½ cups low sodium tomato sauce 

5 cups chopped kale 

1∕3 cup raw cashew butter or 2∕3 cup raw cashews 

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add the split peas and simmer until tender, about 35-40 minutes. Add onion, mushrooms, carrot juice or broth and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, then add kale. Cover and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes, adding a little water if you want to adjust the consistency. Stir in cashew butter and nutritional yeast. If using whole cashews, place in a blender and blend with ½ cup of the soup liquid, then return to the pot. 

Score: 9.5/10

The texture was slightly grainy. Probably due to my use of cashews instead of cashew butter (or because I didn't blend it long enough). It didn't affect the taste. When I started chopping the veggies for the soup I started thinking about how much I've disliked Dr. Fuhrman's soups in the past. Anticancer soup, anyone? I eventually had to toss all my frozen portions of that soup. Blech. This one was good. The split peas could've been cooked a bit more and the cashews blended better, but that was all on me.

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Goji Chili Stew

I made Dr. Fuhrman's Goji Chili Stew tonight and it was actually pretty good. The goji berries turned an orange color and didn't taste like much of anything, but probably added some nutritional benefit. I don't know if this really was a chili or a stew...definitely not a soup...well, it was better than expected, whatever it was. On Dr Fuhrman's website some of the reviewers mentioned putting the chili/stew over lettuce with some added avocado and salsa. Maybe I'll try that with the leftovers.

Changes to the recipe: I cut the recipe in half, used fire roasted tomatoes, canned corn (what I had on hand), black and pinto beans, but no kidney beans, and fresh veggies for the rest.

Dr. Fuhrman's Goji Chili Stew
Serves 6

Ingredients
3 cups diced plum tomatoes or 1 (28-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium plum tomatoes
1 lb frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped
10 oz frozen chopped onions, thawed
2 1/2 cups corn, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup goji berries
2 large zucchini, diced
4 oz chopped mild green chilies
4 tsp chili powder, or more to taste
2 tsp cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans or 1 (15-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium pinto beans, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans or 1 (15-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium black beans, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked red beans or 1 (15-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium red beans, drained

Directions
Cover and simmer all ingredients, except precooked (or canned) beans, for 20 minutes. Add beans and heat through.

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Best Vegetarian Chili? If Not, Still Really Yummy

Over the weekend we traveled up to Andrew's parent's house to film a family movie. His family has been making just-for-fun home movies for a long time. In the 6 years that we've been married, this will be the second movie that we've filmed. It's hard to get everyone together, come up with ideas, plan a script, do make-up and costumes, then film and edit a movie that ends up being silly and only for the immediate family's enjoyment. We decided to make a big pot of chili on Saturday during filming since it doesn't require a ton of kitchen time and because there is still snow on the ground.

CI's Best Vegetarian Chili Recipe Using Bulgar, Walnuts, and Mushrooms

A few months back Andrew made a really good vegetarian chili when I wasn't feeling well. We couldn't find/remember the recipe he used, so we decided to turn to the wonderful cooks over at America's Test Kitchen. The December 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine had a recipe titled "Best Vegetarian Chili," but it looked time and labor intensive. Eventually we might try this one, but not for the first time at a family gathering. We ended up making a different vegetarian chili by them that called for more veggies and a lot less work. After making it, Andrew's mom said that it was a lot like (and maybe even better than) her Cowboy Stew. Since I don't know what that is, I cannot compare the two, but I can tell you that this was some dang good chili.

We doubled the recipe, but didn't follow it to the letter. We used a few bottles of  diced tomatoes that were canned from the Curtis family's garden this past summer (instead of store bought ones). We didn't run them through a food processor, we liked the chunkiness. We didn't use the slow-cooker. Yeah, I know it's right there in the recipe title, but we didn't want to haul it out. Instead, we started with a large pot, sauteed the onions, garlic and seasonings in the bottom (per step number one), then kept everything in that same pot for step number two. We let everything simmer while we were out filming and it was ready by the time we were. The chili had a nice depth of flavor and just enough kick. We did serve it with avocado, sour cream, grated cheese, and tortilla chips on the side.

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Bean Chili

adapted from The Best Make-Ahead Recipe by Cook’s Illustrated / America’s Test Kitchen
Serves 6 to 8

2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium onions, minced
8 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 8 teaspoons)
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
Salt
2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto, drained and rinsed
2 (15.5-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1-3 tablespoons minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce
4 teaspoons sugar
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
Ground black pepper

1 – Pulse the tomatoes with their juice in a food processor until slightly chunky, about 5 pulses; set aside. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the onions are softened and lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the processed tomatoes.

2 – Transfer the onion and tomato mixture to the slow cooker insert and stir in the beans, chipotles, and sugar until evenly combined. Cover and cook on low until the chili is flavorful, 7 to 8 hours.

3 – Stir in the corn and cilantro, cover, and continue to cook until the corn is heated through, about 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

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Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

Andrew's Hot Chili
without meat

I woke up Sunday morning to the sounds of chopping, mincing and dicing (they probably don't sound different now that I think about it). Andrew started to yell my name, "Willow, come and chop this! Willow are you awake? You know I can't stand onions." Yeah, good morning to you too.

Andrew was making vegetarian chili, which he refused to call vegetarian:

Andrew: It is Texas chili with beans and no meat... Oh, and extra vegetables. 

Me: So, it's not Texas chili at all really? That would be meat chili without beans. 

Andrew: Well, yeah, I guess. 

Me: It looks like vegetarian chili.  

Andrew: It is not vegetarian chili. It is chili without meat.

Regardless of what you call it, it turned out pretty good, just a bit spicy. Maybe it was the three jalapenos. It could have been the half cup of chili powder. Perhaps the heaping teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes? No, it was the teaspoon of cracked black pepper, I'm sure of it.

Well, we now have a crockpot full of chili-without-meat leftover, and let me tell you, it only gets spicier in the fridge! The flavor (beyond the heat) was tomatoey with a hint of smoke. I think we would make it again. Maybe scale it back since it is the two of us and leave out some of those jalapenos.

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Holiday Challenge Second Week+

Here is what I ate this week. Well, I guess it's technically a week plus two days... but who's counting (obviously me). Didn't do well with the Holiday Challenge Do's, but I did avoid white flour, sugar and excess oils.

Thoughts for the week: I'm addicted to cheese! I need to cut it out and maybe cut out dairy all together.  There were a lot of nights that I couldn't sleep. Luckily I'm not prone to late night binges. Went to the gym three times. Went out to eat three times, once with Andrew (made a good choice - healthy salad with lots of veggies), and twice with Kendra (not so healthy Kneaders breakfast and lunch, and a semi-healthy salad at Carraba's). Non-food related news: Got our Christmas shopping done, yea!

(BTW an * means that an ingredient list is located at the bottom of the post)

Monday, Nov. 28th

Wheat Thins (reduced fat variety) with pepper jack and aged provolone cheese (no picture).

Hot Pink Smoothie*

Black Bean Soup*

Tuesday, Nov. 29th

Berry Smoothie*

Kashi Roasted Vegetable Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust

Chipolte Seasoned Sweet Potato Fries

Romaine & Boston Lettuce with Italian Caesar

Wednesday, Nov. 30th

Half a banana (do you really need a picture?)

Cheese quesadilla (no picture)

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter "cookie" Shake *

Added Banana to Shake - better without i

Salsa Verde Fajitas - added garlic, soy sauce, and fajita seasoning to rest of salsa verde, then marinated chicken in jar

Thursday, Dec 1st

Three whole wheat tortillas with leftover vegetable fajita mix, lime, cilantro, and Valentinas (see above).

Art City Trolley restaurant: Spring veggie salad (no picture).

Friday, Dec 2nd

Kneader's bacon, egg, and cheddar cheese breakfast on whole wheat bread (no picture).

Kneader's loaded baked potato soup (no picture) and 1 1/2 clementines.

Ate a ton of original sweet potato fries
with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Saturday, Dec 3rd

Leftover black bean soup (see Nov 28th) and orange juice (yes, soup for breakfast).

Strawberry Honey Smoothie*

Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Pasta Sauce
and grated Parmesan Cheese

Sunday, Dec 4th

Black Bean Tacos

Green Smoothie (no picture)*.

Quesadilla (no picture).

Monday, Dec 5th

Quesadilla (no picture) and a banana.

Plain Greek Yogurt with Frozen Blueberries

Roasted pineapple, sweet onions, red and yellow peppers with
 Aidells chicken meatballs and teriyaki sauce made with honey
on Jasmine rice

Tuesday, Dec 6th

Multi-Grain and Flax Wheat Toast with
Homemade Peanut Butter (peanuts blended in Vitamix)

Carrabba's Insalata Fiorucci - Romaine, spinach,
artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, grilled eggplant,
Parmesan, and a hazelnut goat cheese medallion

Mixed Berry Smoothie*

Whole wheat thin spaghetti with marinara sauce and some shredded cheese (no picture).

 *Ingredient lists:

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