A Simply Healthy (& Opinionated) Nikki lecture!

I've had a rant spinning through brain over and over again for the past few weeks. It's nothing new- the importance of health and nutrition are always on my mind, especially when I come across new research. I love research (insert nerd comments here). You can't fight the facts, I like definite things. I am a control freak, and I am very aware of it. I like to control the things that are controllable, my health and that of my children's (of course, until they are grown and no longer under my roof) is a top priority of things that I intend on controlling to the best of my abilities. Yes, I understand things out of my control can and will happen but at least I can rest easy knowing that I've done all that I can do to keep my family in top notch condition. 

I recently read on forbes.com some statistics that I'd like to share. 

"In 2008, total sales for prescription drugs reached $291.5 billion, a 1.4% increase from the previous year. Lipitor, a statin used to control cholesterol, was the top-selling drug, followed by the acid reflux medication Nexium, and Plavix, an anti-platelet agent that reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke. Sales of cardiovascular and gastroenterology medications, as well as ones that regulate central nervous system issues like seizures, depression, pain and Alzheimer's, accounted for half of all drug sales in 2008."

That was in '08...Now in the year 2012 those numbers have only continued to drastically climb...and the saddest part of it all is those are all unnecessary expenses if we as a society could take control over our diets. Cholesterol is controllable, yet it's the top-selling drug. Acid reflux is more often than not, induced by our own body's inability to digest all of the processed and highly preserved GARBAGE (because it's not really "food") that we force it to digest, that along with not eating enough live raw foods that give our digestive system a break by utilizing the enzymes that are only found in non-heated foods. Yet Nexium is the second highest prescribed drug. Then Plavix to reduce the risk of heart attacks is listed as number 3. Every single fruit and vegetable contains vitamins and minerals that can naturally heal our bodies of ALL of those issues without having to just "control" the symptoms with highly expensive medication. The biggest health benefit that I believe comes from eating a plant based diet, is that when you remove animal products from your diet, you have to replace those calories, so what ends up happening is that you end up replacing those calories with more fruits and vegetables.  Seeing as two out of every three adults is overweight, and 40% of their calories come from animal byproducts, that is a whole lot of calories to replace... So you can eat 3 times the amount of food on a plant based diet for the same price (in terms of total caloric intake). Which means 3 times the micro nutrients to fuel my body, and fight off free radicals. Now how is that a bad thing?! Why do we keep adding more chemical concoctions to our system that just cover up one symptom but often create many other side effects, which then takes another medicinal cocktail to hide those issues? Do you really want to be lethargic, weak, in pain, and broke all the time? Why don't we actually HEAL our bodies, fix the root problems, and get rid of those extra expenses and drugs all together? This can and should be done naturally (for those religious readers, and as I believe, that this is the way God intended). And my blogs purpose is to prove that a whole foods, plant based diet doesn't have to be intricate, bland, or boring. It can be simple, flavorful, and exciting.

If I had a buck for every time I get a health nut joke cracked on me, or the rolling of eyes, or the remark that I am "extreme"...I'd be using cash as a form of toilet paper. As passionate as I am about these type of subjects, I try not to get too uppity with people too often, usually I just give my advice, and pray for their ignorance. But inside, I want to reach over slap some sense into these people. When I am 75, medication & pain free, and running marathons with my great grand kids, odds are that those who thought it was all fun games will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on cardiovascular surgery or chemotherapy, and wont think it's quite so funny anymore. I know this sounds extremely harsh, but it's the cold truth. Heart disease and diabetes runs in my family, but it will not run in MY family. I am standing up against the crooked food industry and changing the odds so that they are in our favor. Call me crazy, or extreme...but I was put on this earth to live a life...and LIVE is exactly what I intend to do. 

Maybe this little rant has helped you see the importance of healthy living. Maybe you can now recognize that it doesn't only improve your odds of a longer healthier life, but it will improve your QUALITY of life. Maybe it has made you roll your eyes at me. Maybe you will never read another blog post. If I can at least influence one life for the better, than it has served it's purpose. Not to mention I feel a whole lot better! 

Lastly, I recently revised a previous recipe for my sweet potato chia muffins that I had posted here. They can be made vegan simple by replacing the 2 egg whites with 1 flax egg...which is just 1 tbsp of flax seed mixed in 3 tbsp of water. I usually let my flax egg soak for about 5 minutes before putting it into the recipe. I made them this morning and they worked out wonderfully. Enjoy!

You know what they say about an apple a day!

This week was the official beginning of fall. Our mornings here are getting cooler (making them ideal for running), the leaves are starting to look more yellow than green, my tea kettle is back in business, and even more exciting is that apples are everywhere! This weekends produce basket there was an option to purchase a 50 pound case of apples...you better believe we were all over that!

Aren't they lovely?! Anyways, the question is what to do with all these apples...naturally, juices and smoothies are a MUST. I was thinking of making my pie but sometimes I go a little overboard and eat too many slices in a single sitting when I go that route, if you catch my drift. A few friends suggested a crisp...which essentially is just a lighter version of a pie...perfect solution, and an excellent way to really get into the fall spirit! OHH, and it's SIMPLE!!! Ding ding ding- we have a winner!

This is so "good for you" that I allowed my son to eat it for breakfast this morning (although mostly because he had to go to bed before it was done baking so I had to bribe him a little)! First words out of his mouth when he woke up..."Did you save me dessert for breakfast?"

It took a lot of discipline for my entire family to stop eating it, in order to save some for him. 

Apple crisp

Filling Ingredients:

8 peeled and thinly sliced apples

4 Tbsp of raw honey or agave

3 tsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp lemon juice

Crumble Ingredients:

2/3 c rolled oats

2/3 whole wheat flour

1/2 c pecans

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c coconut oil

1/2 c raw honey or agave

1 tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together apples with the rest of the filling ingredients, toss until evenly coated (I place my apples into a bowl with the lemon juice as I slice them to reduce oxidation discoloration, then once I'm done slicing I toss in the remainder of the ingredients). If you like your filling a little thicker feel free to add 1-2 tsp of corn starch.

In separate bowl mix your dry ingredients for the crumble, then add your oil and honey or agave, and mix until evenly coated and a nice crumble forms.

Next pour your filling mixture into a 11 x 8 baking dish, then evenly distribute your crumbles on top.

(I would suggest doubling the recipe and putting it in a 13x9 pan, you'll want the extra because this recipe really only serves 4, maybe 5) 

It should look a little something like that.

Then bake for 40 minutes.

It should look a little something like this when it's done.

or this...

Eat without feeling in the least bit guilty.

Want to know why?!

Because an apple a day keeps the doctor away! That's not just some old saying...there is some serious truth to that. The Vitamins (particularly C) & flavenoids in apples provide bone protection, and have been proven to seriously decrease your risk of lung, breast, colon, and liver cancers. They aid in weight loss, maintain blood sugar levels, increase heart health, and assist in the prevention of asthma and even Alzheimer's. It's the perfect 100 calorie snack! 

Until next time...Eat clean, train mean, and stay lean!

Much peace & love,

Simple Healthy Nikki

Artichoke addict

I figured this post should start with the picture first. Get you a little excited- or if you're a crazy artichoke fan like I am, then it's getting you super excited!

So today was one of those busy days where you have to keep going or else you will crash. You all have had those, right? Where you don't necessarily feel exhausted but you know if you stop long enough it'll sneak up on you quickly and consume you until you're rendered useless... yeah, one of those days. Fitting in workouts, showers, cleaning, meal planning, shopping, library, parks, and playing taxi driver to and from school, while settling scores between my kids alone because the hubby is out of town, there was no point in slowing down or else I'd come to a screeching halt. The evening was approaching and I began browsing the kitchen for possible dinner ideas, when my eyes crossed the artichokes a light bulb went off. However, there was a little devil on my shoulder telling me that I was too tired to mess with them tonight....but I wrestled that little sucker to ground and went to work on my artichokes. I've prepared artichokes before but I usually just steam them with oil, garlic, herbs, and lemon and then get crazy with the dipping sauce. Today however, once I got rid of that devil, the ambitious angel on my other shoulder took hold and some how convinced me to take on the daunting task of stuffed artichokes...and I am SERIOUSLY glad it did!

For those of you who have never prepped an artichoke, be forewarned that this is the hardest part. Not that it's "hard" it's just labor intensive. It took me about 10 minutes to prep the 2 artichokes for this recipe. And because I am exhausted and about to crash now (I was just too excited about this recipe to wait and write it up tomorrow) I am going to cheat and link you to a site that will show you step by step how to prep your artichoke. Check it out here. (Veto step 8, because for my recipe it doesn't require the artichokes to be pre-steemed. Then also to reduce oxidation instead of constantly squeezing lemon juice after every cut, I simplified things by just keeping a big bowl of water and lemon juice next to me and dip the entire artichoke in the lemon water every so often, and while I was working with one of them I had the other one soaking in the lemon water as pictured below)

Ingredients for stuffing:

2 cups of bread crumbs

1/3 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes (in oil, do not worry about draining the oil)

5 tbsp of a combination of marjoram & parsley (I used more marjoram than parsley)

3 tbsp of nutritional yeast (optional but it really adds a 'cheesy' affect)

1 tbsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil (just enough to moisten stuffing mixture)

Ingredients for broth:

3 c of water

3 tsp of better than bouillon vegetable base

3-4 lemon slices

Directions:

Once you've prepped and cut the choke out, so that just the "arti"remains...put the ingredients for the broth in a large stock pot to bring to a boil. While the broth is heating, combine all stuffing ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the olive oil last just until bread crumbs are moist.  All you do next is spoon the mixture into the center of the artichokes and then begin stuffing the leaves...I was surprised how much stuffing I could fit into those leaves- they expand quite a bit. Once you've stuffed them how you want them just place them in the broth, cover your pot, and allow to cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. 

Lastly, ENJOY! 

If you've never eaten an artichoke, then entire leaf isn't edible...you peel back each leaf and scrape the meat off of each petal, the closer you get to the center the more meat each leaf contains. The heart, or the center is completely edible and by far the most worth while and tastiest part. It makes all the messy, tedious petal scraping worth it! My now 3 year old daughter (as of 2 days ago) was gobbling these up too- she thought it was so much fun to peel the leaf, dip, and scrape. We were both a mess when we were through, but we had very, VERY happy tummies!

I dipped my chokes into a dipping sauce that consisted of 1/2 c veganaise (I'm not usually a fan of mayo or any fatty substitute but this was an exception), 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, curry powder, garlic powder, & pepper to taste. It was the PERFECT addition to an already WONDERFUL dish! 

Fun Facts: Loaded with fiber, Vitamin C &K, folate, magnesium, maganese, and potassium. Artichokes are often recommended to those with irritable bowel syndrome, high blood sugar levels, and high cholesterol. And naturally, like other green vegetables the antioxidants fight free radicals and certain cancers. All of that for the price of 65 calories or less- that's a steal;)

Much peace & love

Simply, Healthy, Nikki

Feeling peachy!

Oh, I love the abundance of peaches we have here in Southern Utah this time of year! We have so many peaches we even have a local 3 day festival annually called "Peach Days". We look forward to the parade, rides, carny food, shopping, local entertainment, and Peach cook-offs.  It's a fun little shindig we take part in every year. Point being, peaches are huge here. 

Two weeks ago we got a large case of peaches with our weekly produce basket. What to do with that many peaches? EAT THEM, OF COURSE! And as we do end up eating a lot of them plain-Jane style, we probably had at least 50 peaches, we can't eat that many plain quicker than they ripen. I could always make pie using my whole wheat pie crust...which is very tempting but time consuming, and lately with our new school & extracurricular activity routines I'm scattering for extra time. So that was out this go around. My chickpea salad with peach puree dressing is quick, tasty, and painless. But that is an ideal lunch menu item, and I'm the only one here for lunch so that maybe used up 2 peaches total- not a large dent in our case. Dutch oven peach cobbler was a must-do for labor day weekend while the entire family was in town and that went over well and used about 15 peaches! I still needed to do something with these ripening peaches. 

I started experimenting. Always a dangerous thing ;)

My mom brought me a bag of whole millet and hulled barley along with a book called "Cooking with Chef Brad-Those Wonderful Grains" after she went to a seminar of Brad's on the benefits of grains. She wanted me to learn to cook them. I had never before fooled with these grains but was more than happy to try something new! I looked up several millet recipes online, but nothing popped out at me. Chef Brad in his book gives the ratio of cooking the grains so that's about all I knew about these grains was how much liquid to use. I didn't know what it would taste like but I started thinking breakfast...why? BECAUSE I LOVE BREAKFAST (and because I had a bajillion peaches left to use and peaches go great with hot breakfast cereals)! After 2 attempts I got it just right! If I can go from not knowing anything to a perfect meal then it must be pretty darn simple...so here it is! 

Simply Healthy Peach and Blackberry Millet Cereal:

Ingredients:

1/2 c millet 

1 c water

1/2 c almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon (dash more for garnishing)

2 tbsp raw honey

1 peach

handful of blackberries

handful of chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Directions:

In small sauce pot pour dry millet in and toss over medium heat until lightly toasted and fragrant. Remove millet, then add water and almond milk and bring to a boil. Once boiling add toasted millet back to pot, return to boil, add vanilla and cinnamon. Cover and boil for 20-30 minutes, occasionally stirring, until liquid is absorbed and millet is tender. Top with raw honey, sliced peaches, blackberries, pecans, and serve! You could add the honey when you add the vanilla and cinnamon, I just prefer my honey raw & enzymatic so I add mine after the fact. The fruit is interchangeable but let me just say the combination of the peaches with the blackberries and nuts really made this dish fabulous! This feeds about 3 mouths.

Isn't it gorgeous? And you know how I feel about a colorful plate!

So you get the point this was breakfast a few times but what about the rest of the peaches?! They were quickly ripening.

When all else fails: JUICE!

8 peaches (peeled and seeded), 1 large cucumber, 1 orange (peeled), & 1 pear

made a very lovely frothy juice for a very rainy day. 

My daughter and I downed several glasses while my son was at school and still had some left for him when he got home, as well as enough for 1 more glass for breakfast the following day.

Oh but wait, there is more. So much more. We still had and still have more peaches! I started thinking I'd just slice them and freeze them, but then I need shelves and shelves of freezer space because you have to freeze the slices separately on wax paper before you can put them together in a bag...otherwise they freeze into one solid piece. Ughh. BUT THEN, the crafty Nikki came out. I pureed a bunch of peaches in my vitamix, skin and all, poured it into mini muffin tins and stuck them in the freezer over night. The next day I popped them out using a butter knife, threw them in the bag and back in the freezer they went. If I'm making a smoothie and want some peaches all I have to do is grab a little cup or two and toss it in. No washing, peeling, slicing because it's all been done. CONVENIENT, YES?!

Lastly, as we speak...because we got another 8-10 peaches in this weeks produce basket I am making  my kids favorite fruit leather using peaches! 

This scattered post is just proof that fruits don't have to be repetitive...they are versatile. Don't let them get boring. Experiment, switch it up, and make convenience a priority because that always helps make it easier to make healthy choices!

Fun Facts: One peach only contains about 68 calories. They are high in dietary fiber that aids in digestion, and the skin is loaded with antioxidants that ward off free radicals and cancer growth. Peaches are super rich in vitamin A, which is vital for healthy vision, and vitamin C & E, which are antioxidants and tissue builders. Peaches contain vitamin K which is needed for proper blood clotting abilities. Other helpful vitamins found in peaches include thiamin, riboflavin, B-6, niacin, and folate. 

Mineral wise peaches are rich in potassium that maintains blood pressure as well as prevents kidney stones and bone loss. Don't forget about the other minerals that work to support red blood cell, bone, and nervous system health such as magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, maganese, iron, and calcium.

Southwestern quinoa

I know, I know... I make A LOT of quinoa salads, and I add quinoa to a lot of my leafy salads as well, but it's just so tasty and versatile; it has yet to let me down so what's the problem?! Here is a yummy southwestern style quinoa salad I threw together the other day using the freshly picked corn and tomatoes we had gotten from a neighbor!

Ingredients: 

1 c rinsed uncooked quinoa

2 c. vegetable broth

2 tbsp olive oil

juice from 2 limes

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1/2-1 tbsp of chili powder

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 chopped bell pepper (I used 1/2 green, 1/2 red)

1/4 c chopped onion

1 avocado chopped

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

2 ears of corn on the cob

handful of cherry tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring 2 c. of water to boil, add quinoa bring back to boil and then cover and let simmer over medium heat for 12 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with fork, then recover and let sit for another 15 minutes. 

While your quinoa is cooking, cook your 2 ears of corn on the grill for about 15 minutes (or until done to your liking) rotating every 5 minutes. You can always grill it on the stove top, or boil as well, but the char from the grill adds a nice flavor. Heating a can of corn can work too but I try to limit the amount of preservative when I can so I prefer fresh (not to mention it tastes better)!

Cut the corn off the cob once cooked, then toss the corn, onion, peppers, and beans into the quinoa. 

Mix olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, chili powder, garlic, and salt & pepper then drizzle on top of quinoa and toss.

Gently fold in your avocados and garnish with cherry tomatoes (I broiled my freshly picked tomatoes for 5 mins on high because I am not the biggest raw tomato fan). 

Then indulge.

For fun facts and health benefits of eating quinoa check out my previous post here!

We also had a block party a couple weeks back where I revised my famous broccoli quinoa salad I had posted way back in May before my Vegan transition. I had to bring a dish that I could eat, seeing as most block parties consist of BBQ meat, buttery rolls, and brownies. I was really craving my broccoli salad but I had to figure out how to make it vegan without sacrificing taste. If I do boast a little of myself, I must say I succeeded! I had multiple ask me if I brought the quinoa salad and requested the recipe. A guy in line in front of my father was going back for seconds and made the comment: "I have no idea what this is, but man is it good!"...to which my father went on to tell him that his daughter made it and that it's called quinoa. So I was pretty excited to be able to introduce this super healthy super grain to another person. Anyways, I made it the same way I did in my previous post except I removed the cheese and greek yogurt and for the dressing, I increased amounts of liquids I used. So I used 1/2 c honey, 1/2 c olive oil, probably close to 4 tbsp of dijon mustard, 1 tbsp of minced garlic, and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. All the remaining ingredients stayed the same and I let it chill for an hour before the party to allow all the flavors to blend. Feel free to taste test before the party and add a little more of this or that to satisfy your taste buds! Vegan friendly, yet still DELISH!

Feedback or requests are always welcome!

Stay tuned for some peachy recipes coming later this week!

UNTIL THEN:

Stay positive. Stay strong. Stay focused.

Heavely healthy zucchini bread!

 One of our neighbors has a monstrous garden and pecan orchard, so when their multiple varieties of squash, cucumbers, corn, and nuts become more abundant for their family to handle they offer some for free to the community. I was driving home from the store, and I saw the free sign...naturally, I pulled over and grabbed a monster zucchini, 2 butternut squash, a spaghetti squash, and a few cukes. Feeling very excited I began brainstorming what I could do with my fresh new goodies. Well, a few hours later my mother came home bearing 2 more butternut squash, a bag of pecans, 3 more cucumbers, and 6 ears of corn. Well shoot dang. That's a lot of produce. We chuckled at our lack of communication and again I went back to brainstorming at what on earth I could do with all of this produce. A few hours after THAT my husband walks in the door holding another monster zucchini, and 2 more spaghetti squash. We all had the same idea, except we felt kind of bad for probably unintentionally taking probably half of all the barrels of free produce. I knew how I would use the spaghetti squash, cucumbers, and corn but I was at a loss of what to do with THAT much zucchini. Granted it was only 2 zucchinis but they were huge! Good thing it was Labor Day weekend and all three of my starving brothers were coming into town. They could help me eat these, somehow. After browsing pinterest recipes for a few hours, I decided on combining and modifying a few different zucchini bread recipes to come up with my own vegan whole wheat version. When I told my husband what I planned on doing to use up half of a zucchini, he was excited and explained how zucchini bread was one of his all time favorite foods- which was news to me. I felt like a bad wife because I had never before made it. Seeing as we just recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary, that's 5 whole years of deprivation. Bad wifey, bad, bad! Nothing a few years of therapy wont fix ;)

SO off to work I went. I made one experimental batch (which yields 2 loafs), and I was super pleased with my results!

 After tasting my success I went ahead and made another batch of muffins and mini loafs to freeze for future breakfasts and snacks (thanks to my friend Meg that gave me the idea)!

On the second batch I added just a little more zucchini to moisten the bread just little bit more (because I'm a sucker for gooey moist breads)...the end result: perfection!!!! 

Both large loafs and 2 mini loafs were devoured this weekend. So when my son requested zucchini bread for breakfast this morning I had to resort already to the frozen muffins. I just pulled it out of the freezer, opened the bag to vent and stuck the bag and all in the microwave for 30 seconds. I cut them in half, smeared some raw maple almond butter and a drizzle of raw honey on it then paired it with some fresh carrot-apple juice and I had one very happy little boy, that I could feel good about sending off for another day of kindergarten!

Ingredients:

(DRY)

1 3/4 c organic whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c organic all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp of  ground Cinnamon

1 tsp ground clove

1 c chopped pecans (I de-shelled & chopped our fresh pecans from the neighbors orchard)

(WET)

3 tbsp of flax meal & 9 tbsp of water

4 tbsp organic coconut oil

1 1/2 c raw honey

1/2 c organic applesauce

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 c finely grated zucchini (use a paper towel to soak up just a little bit of the excess water off the zukes once they're grated, leaving some)

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl, set aside.

Combine wet ingredients in large bowl. I make my own flax meal by blending whole flax seeds in my vitamix blender for about 30 seconds. The flax seeds cannot be left out of this recipe for it acts as the binding agent. Once wet ingredients are well mixed, slowly add the dry mixture, and mix until well combined. Pour into 2 oiled bread tins, 12 mini loaf pans, or 24 greased muffin tins.

Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes for full sized loafs, or 30-40 minutes for mini loafs, or 25-30 minutes for muffins. They are done if you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.

They're sexy and you know it! ;)

With the remaining 1 1/2 Bigfoot sized Zucchini's I grilled them for a big BBQ we had with our family and neighbors this weekend. I simply sliced into long spears, marinated in oil, apple cider vinegar, Italian seasonings and salt and pepper for about 2 hours. Then just threw them on the grill, rotating occasionally until tender. They were fantastic as well. 

Check out the high nutritional value of Zucchini's here!