White Orchid Melody Blog

It’s Day 10, and I’m getting kind of sick of all this healthy eating! Ha! Part of that is hormones. All I want to do is eat chocolate and pizza, with a bottle of prosecco on the side, oh, and some fries.

Yesterday Alex asked for blueberry muffins (his favorite), so I broke out the gluten free flour and whipped up a batch using my normal vegan recipe. They were, well, interesting. I didn’t think they were worth the calories, but Alex ate two. I guess as long as he likes them they were a worthwhile endeavor. I think I will stick to my regular recipe in the future though. I’d rather have the real thing as an occasional treat than settle for some sub-par flavor on a regular basis.

I think that is true for lots of things. I am skeptical of any diets that suggest faux-foods. If you want to be vegan, be vegan. Don’t be a vegan eating fake cheese all the time. If you are dying for a grilled cheese sandwich, have one already! I speak from experience. I ate a lot of “fake” meat when I first went vegetarian, but ultimately that stuff is processed food and not healthy for you, at least not on a regular basis. So if you are only having it occasionally anyway, you might as well just have meat (with the caveat that you eat the healthiest meat you can find–raised humanely without added hormones, drugs, etc). We have turkey on Thanksgiving. I have no interest in Fo-turkey or To-furkey or whatever it is. I think if you can make a healthier replacement without sacrificing the flavor, then by all means do so. My vegan blueberry muffins are just as awesome as the ones with egg and milk. Meanwhile, our household is all dying for pizza. I don’t know if we are going to make it until the end of the 21 days!

I have reframed the way I look at meal time while on the cleanse. The extreme shift has been helpful in getting us un-hooked from our junk food habits, but it has also made me rethink how we can have our junk food in more healthy portions. Instead of ordering a bunch of pizza, order a smaller amount and have a big salad with it. Last night I made eggplant parmesan (with just a tiny bit of cheese on top!). Normally we’d have that with spaghetti. Instead, we had a big salad alongside and left the table feeling much less stuffed and much healthier. So, I can see a long term change in our eating patterns even after the cleanse is done.

Another good thing for me has been the morning smoothie ritual. I eat pretty light most of the day. Water first, then when I’m hungry a smoothie, then maybe a snack later if I’m still hungry, then a light lunch, my afternoon piece of chocolate, then dinner. I have found that if I start off eating too early in the morning, before I’m hungry, I eat too much all day long. We like having a nice big dinner, so it is helpful to keep the rest of the day’s food on the lighter side.

Tonight I’m going to try some lentil croquettes similar to some I had at this awesome vegetarian restaurant in Spain. I’m totally winging them, so that should be fun!

It’s day 8! We made it a week, with only a couple “cheats.” My first thought upon waking was, “a cappuccino would be nice. Maybe this can just be a one week cleanse. Or maybe I can keep doing the other things, but add in the cappuccino.” Uh-huh. Nice try. I got up and got on the scale. 5 pounds lost this week! Oh, okay, so maybe I don’t want that cappuccino after all!

In the book, Kris Carr suggests that the 7th day can be a fasting day, either partial or full—having just green juice or smoothies until dinner or all day. I was thinking of doing this, but by lunchtime, I was feeling hungry for something other than a smoothie, so I made some Coconut Curry Soup for Alex and myself. It was so good! So, here’s the recipe:

Coconut Curry Soup

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1 or 2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 zucchini, very finely chopped
1 carrot, very finely chopped
1/4 bell pepper, very finely chopped
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1-15 oz can coconut milk
1/3 pkg rice sticks (check the asian section of the supermarket for these)

Saute your onion in olive oil until tender and translucent. Add garlic and saute until it is aromatic. Then throw in the spice mixture and stir well, letting the spices cook a bit. Toss in the veggies and mix with the spices. Then pour in enough vegetable broth to cover the veggies, scraping up all the spices that are stuck to the pan. Allow to simmer until veggies are tender. This won’t take long since we’ve cut them so finely. Add in the tomato puree, salt, and coconut milk. Bring back to a strong simmer. Meanwhile prepare your rice sticks according to the package directions. Mine said to soak in hot water for 10 minutes, then chop. I soaked them until they looked nice and flexible, then chopped them into about 1″ pieces. Add the chopped rice noodles to the soup and allow the whole mixture to simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!

Mornings are definitely the most difficult for me. To say I’m not a morning person is putting it lightly. Cappuccinos are pretty much my only motivation to get up in the morning. Sad, isn’t it? So, without the cappuccino happiness, I’ve been extra grumpy. But I’ve been sticking to tea and smoothies. I think maybe today was slightly better on the coffee deprivation front. I’ve been really tired though. I guess I’m still exhausted from our vacation. Combine that with being decaffeinated, and well, I need afternoon naps and early bedtimes.

Yesterday I went out to the big American grocery store, which is always a chore. But they have a good selection of gluten free items and I wanted to stock up to help us through the cleanse. I bought some gluten free baking mix just in case we have a craving for baked goods in a week! I don’t want that to be a reason for giving up on the cleanse. And so far, cutting the gluten from my diet has made me feel much better! So, I’m already seeing the benefits of the cleanse. It has really helped having Brian doing it along with me this time, too. Last time I had to smell his coffee in the morning. Oh, the agony!!! Plus he’s always so positive and cheerful, and that helps me stay motivated.

We’ve been having salads for lunch, smoothies for breakfast, and fruit or nuts or rice cakes for snacks. Last night we had a date night and went to our favorite local restaurant. That was a challenge. The owner/chef prepares everything to order and I knew she’d be most likely to prepare food that was close to the cleanse guidelines. We normally pig out on bruschetta, fried appetizers, grilled veggies, pasta with cream sauce, bread, dessert, coffee, and of course wine. So last night, I ordered a green salad, grilled veggies, and zucchini risotto. That was a huge improvement over our standard fare! It’s really crazy how easy it is to overeat in Italy. Just reading that list of our normal meal is kind of embarrassing. We did, however, succumb to a bottle of Prosecco, which is truly my wine-weakness. We ordered a glass and they brought us a bottle (this is also very typical in Italy). And of course I can’t just have a glass when there is a whole bottle sitting right in front of me. So, we slipped up. But we acknowledged our failure and got right back on track today.

That’s a big deal for me. Normally, if I gave into the temptation of something not on the cleanse, I’d just say to hell with it and go back to status quo. It felt good to realize we’d made a bad choice and get right back to making good choices. Oh, and we both had heartburn after the Prosecco. That helped to remind us that it was not the best choice!

Today we went to the local produce stand for our fruits and veggies. The fruit and veggie prep is really a lot of work! I chop up all the salad veggies and put them in separate containers so that they are ready to go for salads for the next several days. It’s convenient for quick lunches, but it takes a lot of time up front. I’ve been doing it for awhile just for me, but for the two of us it’s a twice a week chore.

At the market, I bought some pepperoncini picanti (hot chili peppers) to make fresh salsa. It turned out really spicy, but so good! For dinner, I served the salsa over polenta slices with lightly steamed green beans and homemade refried beans. It was the first time I’d ever had polenta. I bought a premade pack that you just slice and cook. The label said to fry it. I tried that it, but it was a mess–sticking to the pan and all mushy. So, the rest of the slices I baked in the oven. That worked much better and without the added fat! Awesome! But I think next time I’ll try to make the polenta from scratch.

So far, so good. We’re on track. The vegan and gluten free thing is pretty easy. The wine and coffee, a bit harder. But I’m committed to seeing it through–especially since I can already tell a difference!

Today was tough, though not necessarily because of the cleanse. I woke up in the middle of the night last night with my allergies flaring up. My mouth and ears were itching like crazy, so I got up and took some benadryl. Well, I guess it was nearly 5am then because when my 3 year old came in with a big “GOODMORNING!!!” at 6:15am, I could hardly open my eyes. I begged for mercy, but no luck. I tried to convince him to let me sleep for awhile longer, but it’s hard to convince a 3 year old who is so excited about life and NEVER tired that you are still tired and want to sleep. So, in my sleep deprived state I wanted a big cappuccino (or three) and a chocolate chip raspberry muffin. I drank my green smoothie instead.

I did have a cup of black tea later, which perked me up a bit. Then for lunch, red bean and vegetable curry with a bit of rice. And tonight for dinner we had a big salad and some fresh corn. Interesting thing about the corn. I specifically asked at the market if it was sweet corn– “mais dolce”.  He said yes, but apparently he and I have differing definitions of sweet. It was really starchy, so I fried it up like my grandma used to fry up field corn (minus the crisco!).

As much as I have loved living in Italy, the charm is starting to wear off. We said goodbye tonight to some friends who are moving back to the states. (oh, and we had a shot of limoncello with them…totally NOT part of the cleanse. oops.) Seeing them all packed up and heading off, I was a little jealous. I’m ready to be back on familiar ground. Of course, there are many things I will miss about Italy. My memories will almost certainly reflect the good things most prominently and the bad things as just quirky and amusing. But, seriously, being able to do more than one load of laundry a day will be awesome!

I’ve upped the ante. My morning smoothie now looks like this:

I never thought I would EVER be able to bring myself to drink anything that looked like that. But it was yummy! And now I’m addicted.

After reading Crazy Sexy Diet, I was mulling over the idea of adding more raw foods to my diet. I easily fall into the habit of being heavy on beans and grains. My fruit smoothies were great for getting my daily dose of fruit, but I hardly ever ate raw veggies. I eat lots of veggies–they’re just all cooked.

So I talked to a friend of mine about adding some greens and she suggested some painless ways to get started–just a little green stuff to start with and work your way up from there. The first day, I started with my normal banana, orange, strawberry, and threw in about a third of a cucumber. It was okay. Drinkable with a straw anyway. But you see, I really, really HATE cucumber. So, although that may be one of the least offensive vegetable add-ins for most people, it was probably the worst for me. The next day, I added a little bit of the cucumber again (since I had it), plus some broccoli stems, a broccoli leaf, and a few leaves of parsley, oh, and a green apple instead of the strawberries. And we have a winner! The green apple flavor dominates, so none of the other green stuff is recognizable to my taste buds. Perfect. I still have a little bit of cucumber left, but after I use that up, I am thinking about switching it out for zucchini. I’ll gradually work my way up to 50/50 fruit/veggies. A lot of raw foodies suggest mostly veggies, but fruit is good for you too! And I’m not one to just sit and chow on fruit, so for me a smoothie is the best way to get my daily dose.

Interested in trying a Green Smoothie? Here is a mix to get you started:

1 banana
1 blood orange
1 green apple
1 broccoli stem (~2″ long)
broccoli leaves (or if your broccoli doesn’t have leaves, you can add other greens–spinach, carrot greens, etc.)
few parsley leaves (easy on the parsley, it has a strong flavor)
1/3-1/2 cucumber (or more if you actually like cucumbers!)
1 romaine lettuce leaf

Combine in blender and blend until all is smooth. My blender is not one of those fancy expensive things that many of the raw food sites recommend, but it still manages to do the job. I let it run for awhile until everything looks really smooth. You may want to cut the larger vegetables into little pieces to help everything blend up faster.

Serve and enjoy! But be warned: they are addictive! My energy levels skyrocketed with the addition of all these yummy enzymes! One morning I skipped it and had coffee and a whole grain muffin and felt horrible by noon. You can judge the benefits of food choices by how they make you feel. When I eat heavy food, I feel heavy and sluggish. When I have a super-smoothie, I feel light and energetic! That’s proof enough for me!

P.S. My 3 year old loves them, too!

All gone!

This time last year, I signed up for a 21-day vegan kickstart. I had been feeling kind of “blah” and suspected it had to do with the inordinate amount of dairy products I’d been consuming since we moved to Italy–delicious whole milk cappuccini, decadent mozzarella di bufala pizza, cream sauces, gelato. The list goes on. Num, num, num. All so tasty, but alas, it didn’t leave my body feeling so nice. I’d been thinking about shifting to more vegan vegetarianism, so when a friend told me about the kickstart, I signed up. It was a disaster. First of all, I didn’t have the moral support I needed at home. My darling husband thought it was absolutely ridiculous to spend any of our limited time in Italy refraining from dairy products. Second, the website where I signed up didn’t really offer much support either…there were pep talks, but the recipes were horrible. It was all rabbit food. I posted about that last year. Vegan food doesn’t have to be icky. It can be superb! After about 3 or 4 days of half-assed trying, I succumbed to a decadent chocolate cake that was definitely not vegan. I gave up. It was just too hard.

But still, I wanted to reduce the amount of dairy in my diet without sacrificing flavor. Over the past year, I have experimented with lots of vegan recipes. We stopped buying eggs after I discovered that ground flaxseed was a easy and nutritious egg-replacer in baking. I developed a vegan “cream sauce” using pureed white beans. I even started ordering pizza “marinara” instead of cheese pizza. But I still had a cappuccino pretty much every day of last year. I’m obviously addicted.

So, then, a few weeks ago, to my absolute astonishment, my darling husband says to me, “are you going to do the vegan challenge this year?” Uh, no. It was a disaster. Why would I bother trying that again? To which he says, “yeah, but I wasn’t very supportive of you. I think you can do it. I think we should do it together.”

When I picked my jaw up off the floor, I thought about it and decided that yes, we should give it a go, as a family.

We have had company over the past few days, so we didn’t start at the first of the year. But today, January 3, 2011, we begin our “21-Day Vegan Indulgence.” That sounds so much nicer than “challenge”, doesn’t it? We will have the privilege of treating our bodies to deliciously vegan culinary creations for 3 weeks. It won’t be a struggle; it will be a delight.

Knowing that today was the day, we carefully planned on being “out” of milk, so there’d be no cappuccino temptations. I started my morning with green tea. Then I made a batch of fabulous vegan muffins (recipe to follow). I enjoyed my muffin with a mocha cappuccino that I made with chocolate soymilk. It was a delectable breakfast!

After a couple of gluttonous months, I’ve been feeling a little…er…fluffy. Hmm. Less than toned, shall we say? We’ve had visitors off and on since May, which means we have been eating out much more than normal. And as I’ve mentioned before, I fell off the running bandwagon, got amnesia, and forgot that I have to run in order to eat whatever I want. The scale hasn’t really moved much, but I can tell by the way I feel that I need to readjust.

I thought about joining WeightWatchers online. I have had success with that in the past. But really, I know what I need to do–eat more fruits and veggies and less pasta and bread and dairy. I just need the motivation to do so. So, last week, I re-read Skinny Bitch. I read this book years ago and loved it then. Before we moved to Italy, I was near vegan. I’ve never really been a huge fan of dairy products, except for cheese on my pizza. I drank soy milk in my morning mocha and probably only had cheese in our dinner once or twice a week.

Here it seems like I have been eating gobs of dairy products–a cappuccino (or three) every day, pizza at least once a week, pastas with cream sauce or cheese…the list goes on. And I have not been feeling very healthy from it. No surprises there, dairy isn’t very healthy. Reading Skinny Bitch again reminded me that dairy is, in fact, addictive, and is, in fact, crappy for your body. Even if you buy organic dairy, it is still addictive and fattening. I’ve been feeling the need to cut down on dairy for awhile now. My little soul voice has really been hounding me about it. I’ve just been lazy and ignoring it. It is hard to break an addiction after all. And I tend to be an addictive eater anyway…I love food and I sometimes eat out of boredom or to cheer myself up. It is a wonder I haven’t developed a serious weight problem.

The authors of the book suggest cutting out all dairy for 30 days before you allow yourself to be tempted again (also, all meat, but I’m already vegetarian). I tried the cold turkey thing at New Years, but wasn’t prepared and failed miserably. I also didn’t have much support with Brian making fun of me and asking me why in the world I’d want to give up dairy in Italy?! Yeah, well, it comes down to this: I don’t feel good. I want to feel healthy. But knowing I’m an addict, I didn’t want to go cold turkey again. A month or so ago, I found a bunch of vegan dinner recipes and began incorporating those into our monthly dinner plan. That has helped me be less reliant on quick cheese-based meals. So, I focused on just having vegan meals for dinner, but still enjoyed my cappuccino for breakfast and sometimes cheese at lunch.

So, now I’m down to one cappuccino in the morning and no other dairy. It’s good. I haven’t really craved any dairy, and I’ve made some great new recipes. And honestly…I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…my cappuccino didn’t even taste that good the past two mornings. So, I may be able to break that habit sooner than I thought.

I know cutting out the dairy will be great for my health and my weight…but I still have to look at the rest of my food consumption. I’m the kind of girl who is perfectly content to have a muffin for breakfast, a sandwich or wrap for lunch and pasta for dinner…carbs, carbs, carbs. First of all, let’s make no mistake, whole grain complex carbs are GOOD FOR YOU! Okay? This ain’t no carb bashin’! But alas, what our bodies need is lots of fruit and veggies along with those carbs. And I have a nasty habit of ignoring that, more so the fruit than the veggies. So, one thing that is already helping me in this first week of adjustment since reading Skinny Bitch is their suggestion to have only fruit for breakfast. First of all, I’m not really a big fan of fruit. But lucky me to be in Italy during peach season! I have discovered that I do actually like fruit, when it is fresh, local, and in season…something you rarely find in supermarkets stateside. ANYway…they suggest having fruit first thing in the morning because fruit is so easily digestible when eaten alone on an empty stomach.

What I have found is that it sets me up to eat less throughout the day. I don’t eat anything until I actually feel hungry. Then I have a piece of fruit. Then when I’m hungry again, I’ll have my cappuccino. Then when I’m hungry again, lunch (usually around 11am). By limiting the amount of food I eat at one time, I’m both shrinking my stomach capacity and boosting my metabolism. After only a couple of days, I noticed that what I would normally eat for dinner felt like too much. I was uncomfortable. That’s a good thing! Well, not that I overate, but that my “normal” amount felt like overeating. I’m reseting my internal gauges. That’s key to eating less without feeling deprived. So, I’m feeling better already! Viva vegan!

Well, it has been awhile. I don’t think I’ve had a running journal entry since the marathon. I was running though, pretty consistently up until about a month ago. Then I sort of fell off the bandwagon. My running buddy moved back to the states. It got hot. Alex started sleeping late and didn’t want to go to school. So, it became very difficult to get out the door. I went for a couple of runs while the grandparents were here to watch Alex, but nothing consistent. I’ve been back on track the past two days though, going out in the early evening when Brian gets home from work. It is still insanely hot then, but most of my regular running loop has intermittent shade. So, it isn’t unbearable. And I’m not pushing the 40lb+ toddler/stroller combo. That helps! Alex doesn’t enjoy going on runs with me anymore anyway. I took him with me one morning a few weeks ago, and he was antsy to get out of the stroller the whole time.

Heat is just something you have to get used to. I remember last fall, when the temperature dropped, my lungs hurt because I wasn’t used to the cold air! I’d gotten acclimated to running in the sauna that is southern Italy in the summer. And now I have to do that again. I’ve got my Under Armour Heat Gear capris and tanks, my camelbak full of gatorade/water mix, my iPod shuffle, my red hat, and I’m ready to go. Yesterday an older Italian man on a scooter yelled “FA CALDO!!!” at me. As in, it’s freakin’ hot lady, why are you out running? Good question sir. Is “because I love pasta, but don’t want to look like I love pasta” a good answer? But really, as good as running is for my body, it is even better for my mind. I’m much happier and balanced feeling when I run everyday. It makes me a better mom, a better partner, a better artist. It keeps me sane!

I pulled a bunch of recipes off of various vegan cooking sites to last me through the month. But I have a VERY difficult time actually following a recipe. My creative impulses get the best of me. So, tonight I started with a rather basic pasta recipe: Pine Nut and Vegetable Penne. But it occurred to me that I might be able to do a cream sauce using pureed white beans. I have posted my sundried tomato cream sauce here before. It is one of my favorites. This is an excellent vegan version–less rich, but very tasty.

Vegan Sundried Tomato and Herb Cream Sauce

2 cups of cooked white beans (I used navy beans)
1/4 cup each fresh parsley and basil
1 tbsp pine nuts
olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 sundried tomato halves
1 cup water

In your food processor combine parsley, basil, nuts and beans. Process until evenly chopped. Meanwhile in a small saucepan, heat just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and stir, cooking until you smell the garlic. Add in tomato halves and water. Bring to a boil. Then, turn off heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add tomato and garlic mixture to bean mixture and process until evenly blended. It won’t be totally smooth.

I served this on penne pasta with sautéed vegetables (onion, celery, red and yellow peppers, and green beans). It was really good! I didn’t miss the cream and cheese at all.

I was rather disappointed in myself for not being successful at the 21-day vegan kickstart at the beginning of the year. I wasn’t TOO hung up on it. I really do like pizza, cappuccino, and chocolate cake. But at the same time, I have been feeling like I would be healthier if I moved closer to a vegan diet. So, I’m going to try a month worth of vegan dinners. I already have a lot of vegan meals on my “go-to” list of recipes. But I spent the day searching for appetizing vegan recipes so that I’d have at least a month’s worth.

When I first went vegetarian, I pretty  much went cold turkey. That worked out okay as there were already vegetarian recipes I enjoyed and I figured out the rest as I went along. But this vegan thing is a bit more challenging for me. So, I’m preparing myself with a good solid plan. I’m not going cold turkey this time. I’m starting just with dinner meals, and if I can handle that I’ll start working on that pesky cappuccino problem. And this isn’t to say I won’t ever eat cheese or have a cappuccino again. Just as I still occasionally eat meat, I will occasionally eat dairy. But hopefully it will not be a daily requirement for me any longer. And I’ll probably enjoy it more when I do have it!