See you there!

Another great find for those of you that love ice cream but need a non-dairy alternative.   Purely Decadent non-dairy frozen dessert is organic and delicious!  We tried the Vanilla Bean flavor and sprinkled it with un-sweated cocoa powder. It has a few simple ingredients, including agave syrup for a sweetener. Compared to a scoop of Vanilla ice cream from Baskin Robbins you save a little on calories, fat, sodium and sugar. Because it is not made with any animal products there is 0 cholesterol. You also get the added benefit of fiber – 6 grams per serving verses 0 in regular vanilla ice cream!

Common Treatments may include:

•   Rest
•   Ice
•   Massage therapy
•   Stretching
•   Night splints
•   Motion control running shoes
•   Physical therapy – stretching, exercises, US
•   Orthotics
•   Anti-inflammatory medications
•   Injection of corticosteroids 
•   Surgery in refractory cases 

The best treatment is conservative. Corticosteroids and surgery should be a last resort.  This week I will demonstrate how we address it. 

Two things that you can do now are ice massage and towel gathering.  Here is a short video demonstration.

Over the weekend we made some of my favorite pancakes – Buttermilk Oatmeal pancakes. I do not know where this recipe originally came from, however I modified it to make it healthier than the original one.  I often add fresh blueberries or blackberries to them while cooking (just drop a few berries on top once you start the pancake cooking – if you add blackberries, cut them in half with the inside facing up when you drop them into the pancake batter). We like to top them with fresh fruit, a little yogurt and a touch of pure maple syrup.

 Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes

2 cups oats

2 cups low fat buttermilk

1 egg

2 egg whites

¼ cup apple sauce

½ cup flour

1 tablespoon sugar (or agave nectar – if you use agave add to the wet ingredients)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

Mix oats and buttermilk, over night. Stir eggs and apple sauce into oat mixture. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Do not over mix. Cook by ¼ cup full batter over medium-high heat. If the mix is too stiff add a little more buttermilk.

1230 calories total – makes approximately 12 pancakes for 102.5 calories per pancake.

Here is a link to the company that sells the Bison Burgers at Costco www.highplainsbison.com

Here is another website that lists facts for grass fed food www.eatwild.com/products/arizona and you can look up local farmers markets that sell the meat.

For the burgers we used bison burgers that we bought at Costco.  These are Bison that graze on wild grasses – not your typical grain fed meat.  Meat that is grass fed is much healthier than grain fed. If we buy red meat, this is what I look for: organic and grass fed. Instead of using a bun we used a LaTortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla. These are high in fiber and protein and only 80 calories for a large tortilla (half a hamburger bun is 80 calories). It also holds all our favorite burger toppings well. If you slice up the burger before you put it on, you’ve got a great wrap!  We also added a slice of reduced fat Swiss cheese. Toppings included onion, tomato, lettuce, avocado and spicy mustard.

Making healthy fries is easy. We cut up russet potatoes in thin slices, like a typical French fry. Tossed them with a little olive oil, see salt and garlic powder and bake them in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until they start to brown.

At the hardware stores you can find various grill accessories to use on your grill for cooking things like vegetables or seafood. The one we have looks like a square colander. We grilled asparagus, peppers, onion and zucchini drizzled with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and grill for about 15 minutes. Nels starts it on high and reduces the heat to medium. Spritz with some Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids when done cooking for a little extra flavor. 

For dessert I made an Old –Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake. I found this recipe on the Cooking Light web site – it came from myrecipes.com. It was delicious!  I modified the recipe a little. I used more strawberries and only ¼ cup of sugar with them and no orange juice.  I did add an additional table spoon of buttery spread to the flour mixture(earth balance organic buttery spread) because the flour mixture was not resembling coarse meal. This would be great even without the whipped topping.

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcakes

Yield:  6 servings

3 1/2 cups halved strawberries, divided
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
Whole strawberries (optional)

Combine 1 cup strawberry halves, 1/3 cup sugar, orange juice, vanilla, and lemon juice in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Stir in 2 1/2 cups strawberry halves. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; cut in margarine with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 6 squares. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Split shortcakes in half horizontally using a serrated knife; place each bottom half on a dessert plate. Spoon 1/4 cup strawberry mixture over each bottom half. Top with shortcake tops; spoon 1/4 cup strawberry mixture over each top. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon whipped topping; garnish with whole strawberries, if desired.

CALORIES 270 (24% from fat); FAT 7.2g (sat 1.9g,mono 2.7g,poly 2.1g); IRON 1.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 93mg; CARBOHYDRATE 47.3g; SODIUM 183mg; PROTEIN 4.3g; FIBER 3g

Once you get used to eating healthy, eating an unhealthy alternative loses its once oh so good taste and you actually prefer healthy foods!

Here is a list of the samples and estimated calories per sample. It includes the item followed by the calories: Multigrain tortilla 20, Mild Italian Sausage 35, Provolone Cheese 20, Italian Mortadella 20, Beef Brisket with potato salad 82, Veggie patties 43, Seafood salad on rice cracker 32, Smoked salmon with cream cheese on a cracker 50, Honey smoked salmon on a Ritz 30, Tri Tip 20, Hot & spicy wings 63, Chicken Florentine 30, Hansen’s soda with ice cream 50, Kirkland sports Drink 40, Sun dried tomato & pasta 40, Baked beans 20, Bratwurst 43, Four bean salad 30, Rice crackers with nuts 150, Fruit chips 10, Sour patch kids 10, Body choice high fiber drink 45, Body choice weight loss drink 10. Special display for pitas, pita chips and humus – they had several to sample with chunks of pita bread or fried pita chips so things could really add up here! I will put down as if you had a piece of the pita bread, one fried pita chip and tasted one humus, a Tabouli and Tzatziki: Pita 15, Fried Pita Chip 17, Humus 6, Tabouli 6, Tzatziki 6.

The grand total 943 calories! This is more than half of my days worth of calories! Who would think ‘just a few samples’ could add up do fast! In case you are wondering how I fared…I was very selective and ended up consuming 287 calories. Didn’t really seem like that much! Good thing we had a light lunch!!

Follow up on our gallbladder flush. Sunday and Monday we completed our flush. We used Epson salt which in itself is not all that comfortable. Drinking the olive oil is tough. Olive oil as a beverage is just not good! It was tough to get down and we definitely needed the grape fruit juice chaser!! It did make me a touch nauseous and I have not wanted any peanut butter yet. Too soon for something so high fat! However our gallbladders our flushed and a little discomfort for a day or two is well worth it.

Day 13 Breakfast Juice plus meal replacement made with apple juice, banana, spinach, frozen blue berries, flax meal, vanilla and cocoa.

Lunch A Bora Bora bar – would have preferred something with fewer sweaters, however it is a bar made with mostly nuts, seeds, dried fruit and they are organic. I was at a clinic with the horse and Nels was in a tournament, so our lunch choices at the events were hamburgers and hotdogs – this compared to that…Bora Bora bar was the best choice.

Dinner Salad with spinach, peppers, red onion, mushrooms, tomato, avocado, blanched asparagus with a little non-fat balsamic vinaigrette. I also roasted some yucon gold potatoes in the oven.

Snacks Apple juice, couple falafel balls, and fresh strawberries, blue berries and black berries with a little peanut butter and almond butter

Day 14

Work out – P90X Yoga

QUESTION – How many calories does an hour of yoga burn?  First person with the right answer gets a free adjustment!

Breakfast Juice plus meal replacement made with apple juice, banana, spinach, frozen blue berries, flax meal, vanilla and cocoa.

Snacks Apple juice, couple falafel balls, and fresh strawberries and blue berries with a little peanut butter and almond butter

Lunch Salad with spinach, peppers, red onion, mushrooms, tomato, avocado, blanched asparagus with a little non-fat balsamic vinaigrette.

Tonight we will do the flush so all we will have is olive oil and grape fruit juice!! Tomorrow we will continue on our really healthy diet. It is important after a cleanse or especially a fast to continue a healthy diet, and not overwhelm the system with foods that should only be eaten on occasion.

We finally got apple juice for our liver and gallbladder flush which we will do Sunday. We found an organic one at Costco last night. Now we will add in a couple glasses of apple juice a day.

Work out was the Insanity Pure Cardio DVD.

Breakfast

Steal cut oats with fresh strawberries, blue berries and blackberries, flax meal, a touch of vanilla, honey and agave nectar.

Snack

Apple juice with Standard Process complete meal replacement. Carrot juice, peanut butter and almond butter. Raw sugar snap peas and a couple falafel balls.

Lunch

Salad with spinach, green and red bell pepper, red onion, avocado, tomato, black beans with some non fat balsamic vinaigrette and an artichoke.

Dinner

Juice Plus chocolate meal replacement made with apple juice with banana, frozen blue berries, spinach, vanilla and cocoa powder.

During this process we have been working on losing a few pounds. I tend to fluctuate in a 3 pound range, so I’m working my way back down.  As a young girl I was overweight and was getting teased. Then in seventh grade I finally got tired of being teased and having to buy bigger pants all the time. This must have also been the time I started to notice boys. So, I started cutting back on what I ate and exercising. This is probably why perusing a degree in nutrition was so appealing!

Nels is also working on losing a few pounds.  He was almost getting discouraged that he was not seeing any loss. Then I remind him we had been cutting back and on our cleansing diet for “ONLY” about a week. At the end of the first week he lost one pound, which is exactly what you want. One to two pounds per week is ideal. If you lose any more you are going to start losing muscle. Even when you know better it is easy to get frustrated, that’s why it is important to have someone to keep you accountable and stay focused with the end in mind.