Had a talk about processed foods with my class today...

I approached today's class with trepidation.  I have a very small budget for my cooking class at school, so one day of my week is spent just talking to my students... I'm sure they hate it... but it is a necessary evil.   It's sooo important to teach nutrition to young adults... I was very, very proud of my students today...  They made it very easy for me to teach...

I started with assigning homework requiring them to bring in a food label of any kind from home.  Only a handful of students did it... but it was a good class anyway...

I asked each of them to pass around the labels and write down on word they couldn't understand from the label, and then we went around the room and everyone said their word...

Disodium Phosphate
Maltodextrin
Soy Lecithin
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
etc... etc... etc...

I think by the end of class... they were either disgusted... or mad... I couldn't tell... LOL

We broke it down... and I wrote on the board... ASPARTAME = THE DEVIL... Cuz that's how I feel about it.

I told one lovely girl, I'd rather she drank a cup of water with a tablespoon of sugar in it rather than aspartame...

I got some really great questions too... One young man asked if someone could die from drinking an entire of case of Aspartame laden drinks in one day... OOOOHHHH... HOW I WANTED TO SAY YES!~!!   But, alas... I couldn't lie to him... but I did say it doesn't do that person any good... that's for sure...

Another young man asked... "Why is Diet Coke bad for you?"  I didn't have an answer that would jolt him... but I said that no one needs caramel coloring, aspartame, and all the other ingredients in it to quench thirst... I mentioned about three times that all we should be drinking is green tea and water...

Another young lady asked if Gatorade is bad... Again... I WANTED TO SHOUT "YES" FROM THE ROOFTOPS... but... I did admit it does have some electrolytes in it that are beneficial, and it should be drunk only during extreme workouts, and at half strength cut down on the sugar...

They may have been bored silly... but I liked the class... I felt like I may have made them think twice about the types of food we all eat...

Then I passed around an old picture of me 90 lbs heavier... my face looked like it was about to explode... and I explained that I understand that I have a lot more to go.., but on  the inside... I'm actually a 120 lb supermodel and my body hasn't caught up with my brain yet...

I told them... that one day... when they are grocery shopping with their babies and their hubbies one day... and they look into their babies sweet faces and want only the very best for them and they decide to buy their babies only the best, freshest, wholesome food available... and that will make all the difference.

It was a good day at school...

I love my class...

My new Job!!! Promoting good health to a new generation!!!

Boy, it's been a long time since I've been on here.  I sure miss it... but I've been so crazy busy with my new job, I just couldn't bring myself to get on the computer.  But alas... here I am... and so happy to be here...

My new job is sooooo cool!!!

I am a cooking teacher at my two older son's private High School... and I'm loving it... but it's sooo much more now that I have a new way of thinking and eating food.

Now, I have the opportunity to help 16-17 year olds think differently about food, to teach them that food doesn't come from a window while in a car, or from the frozen boxed food aisle.  AND IT'S WORKING!!!

Teens, it turns out, will eat fresh food if it's put in front of them.  GO FIGURE!!!  If the only choice is good, wholesome, fresh, simple food... THEY WILL CHOOSE IT!!!  Wonder of wonders!!!

Parents... listen to me... YOUR KIDS WANT TO EAT GOOD FOOD... I PROMISE... the only reason they eat so much fast food is BECAUSE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO!!!  I know it to be the truth...

I have been talking at length to the students about the detrimental effects of fast food and processed foods, and they are giving lots of information and talking about how they've begun to cut back on bad foods and eating more fresh foods...  SOOOO GREAT!!!

I have a microscopic budget, and cooking really fresh for the students is the best way to make a small budget stretch as far as it can go... ounce for ounce fresh is always less expensive than boxed processed stuff...

I am sooo proud of my class... so grateful I have changed my eating habits and have some young people to share it with...

Yahooooo!!!

Food that Fuels... beans!

Beans, beans, beans and more beans...

Any eating plan that doesn't include a TRUCKLOAD of beans, is not a good plan... in my opinion.

When I eat enough beans, I can go literally 6-7 hours straight without so much as wanting for needing another meal.  That's saying alot, since most adults eat every 4 hours or so...

Beans help everything "move" along in our systems.  Packed with fiber, so much fiber, it's hard to match it with anything else except maybe going out and munching on fresh wheat stalks in a field... beans are the perfect "meat" in a vegetarians day.  Coupled with some brown rice, it's a perfect protein source.

Now, I know that rice isn't "allowed" on the LDL plan... but I beg to differ with BROWN rice.  In a pinch, if I'm in a hurry, I'll scoop out a cup or so of brown rice I made up earlier in the week with just some water and little salt, and add a tsp of Agave Syrup and a splash of milk over it and scarf it down.  It's stays with me until I'm ready for my big lunch meal... and it's got some fiber in it too.

Beans, however, are great in the morning too.  Scramble up an egg or two, mashed up some beans with some hot sauce and seasonings, and place the scrambled eggs over the beans... and WATCH OUT WORLD... energy is at  your doorstep!

Don't enjoy the "music" associated with beans?  Put on drop of BEANO on them everytime you eat them, and that will never be a problem again...

I make my own beans from a bag every week, but you can use canned.  Just be sure to rinse them so all the salt goes down the drain too.

Sooo... eat your beans... and lose that weight!!!

What to do with a 5 foot long zucchini!!!

Ya cook it!!!  That's what ya do!!!

And I did just that...

My Mom brought this home for me from my Uncle's house in San Pedro the other day...

It's 50 inches long.

For those of you that don't know what it is... it's a Squash... a buttery, light green ridiculously yummy one too!

When she presented it to me... it was like being in Zucchini Heaven!!!

My mind immediately started thinking of all the things I was gonna do with it...

Was I going to chop it, slice it, stuff it, fry it, bake it, steam it...

and the answer to all of those is...

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, AND YES!!!

With a 5 foot long zucchini, you can do ALL of it!!!

Soooo...

I cut a 2 foot section off, and seeded it, rubbed it with Olive Oil, salt and pepper and baked it

to tenderize it... just for a few minutes...

Then I stuff them!!!

This is a mixture of saute'd onions, celery, mushrooms, romano cheese and a tiny bit of Feta on top...

I can smell them now!!!

Lunch is gonna be soooo good!

Then...

I sliced another 1 1/2 feet of it into diagonal medallions...

Sprinkled them with Dill, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and they are going to bake

in the hot oven until tender...

I will eat them as it...

My family will eat them over Fettucine Pasta dressed with hot olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and Pecorino Romano shavings...

I still have another 18 inches or so in the fridge... for another day...

Since it fits in the fridge now... I can savor the flavor another day...

Buone Mangiare!!!

Make your own soda at HOME!!! BLECH!!!!

I was taking William to football practice the other day, and I heard on the radio about a product (I refuse to mention the name) that allows people to make their own soda.  The announcer was just RAVING about this product and how it will save the planet from all the bottles and cans using it will save.

I. Was. Sickened.

They were touting that this product will and can help us MAKE OUR OWN SODA at home...

Yep... just what everyone needs... to make soda in the comfort of their own home...

They went on to say that "You can now control what goes into your soda, in your own home... just purchase the product and buy any or all of the 30 flavors of soda syrup, and watch your money add up in your bank account from all those costly cans and bottles!" or something to that effect... YUCK!!!

What they failed to mention was that the "SYRUP" has all the nutrition and benefits of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING... and everyone might as well just start an IV line of chemicals and byproducts and HFCS directly into their veins...OH... and go ahead and make an appt with a Diabetes Doctor, Cardiologist, and the Funeral Director...

Why don't people get it yet!!!  Having never been a real soda drinker, but being married to one, has difficult in the past 20 years.  Drinking sodas wreaked havoc on my husbands system... Luckily, he's over his soda addiction and his blood test numbers are all normal now... but seriously... drinking all that junk, DIET OR OTHERWISE... is just about the WORST thing someone can drink... I swear, I would sooner drink bleach!!!

Diabetes is SKYROCKETING around the globe, predominantly in CHILDREN... and I believe that juice boxes, soda, and DIET soda's are the main culprits... couple that with a few fast food meals every week... and it's "goodbye mortality rate" ... hello... funeral director!

Then, yesterday, I was driving home from Los Angeles, and a big sign for a fast food restaurant touted...
"Go on... this is easier than this"  And it showed how the bag of fast food is soooo much easier than walking into a kitchen.  So the picture showed the bag of food on one side... and a kitchen on the other...nice.. really nice...  Why take responsibility for ourselves when permission is EVERYWHERE to just do what is easiest!!! 

The two beverages that should be ingested are these... water and tea.  THAT'S IT!

If everyone would just switch to drinking ONLY water and tea for a month, not only would the soda habit get broken, but... skin will get better, more money will be in your wallet, health will improve, sugar levels will be lower and weight will be lost.  Yes, even diet soda's are the devil... fake sugar is poison... always has been...always will be...

Take the challenge to end your addiction to soda's... won't you?  You'll be so glad you did!!!
One month, nothing but water and tea... YOU WILL LOVE THE RESULTS!!!

Salmon/Tuna Salad Wraps

Eating good fish is very important to an eating plan, whether it's a healthy one or not, we all need the Omega 3 Fatty Acids in our diets for heart health and overall vitality.

In 2005, my family and I went to Alaska on a Cruise, and while there, we took a fantastic tour of a Salmon Hatchery, and learned the difference between "Wild Caught" and "Farmed" Salmon... and learned that "Wild Caught" is FAR SUPERIOR.  So when I saw the cans, (yes cans) of Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon at Costco a few years back, I started buying them every week.  I don't even buy Tuna anymore... and I love Tuna...but I buy it fresh now, in steaks.  I buy Salmon fresh too, but most of the fresh Salmon around here is the much more inferior Atlantic Salmon, which is much cheaper, and also less nutritious, and is farmed, therefore it contains high levels of Mercury, and the fish isn't as fresh as it could be...

That being said (I sound like SUCH a food snob, but I guess I am, so I'd better own it) no disrespect to the Altantic Fisherman (hatchery owners) but the Pacific Northwest Salmon is the prized Salmon in Restaurants and tables bar none... that's why it costs so much...

Back to why I'm writing this...

Ahh yes... my recipe for Salmon and/or Tuna fish salad... I eat this wrapped up like tacos in lettuce leaves or cabbage leaves, or on long, thick stalks of celery, or in long boats of freshly seeded cucumbers halves or in hollowed out tomato halves...
YUM!!!!

3 CANS Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon or Albacore Tuna

1 whole onion chopped finely

3-4 ribs celery chopped finely OR 1 tsp celery seed

1 cup dried cranberries, chopped (yes you read that correctly)

1 cup SWEET pickle relish (rinsed under cool water of all the gooey stuff)

a few tablespoons Greek Yogurt or Mayo

1 tsp dill weed

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together, cover and refrigerate for a few hours to let the flavors mascerate.  This recipe is enough for 3-4 lunches.

I make a plate of clean lettuce leaves (4-5), place a couple tablespoons of filling into eat leaf, place some alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts on top, or chopped cucumber or radishes on top, alongside a bean salad and a huge bowl of fruit, and I'm STUFFED until 8 p.m.!!!

I wish I would remember to take a picture of them when I eat this... but I just tear into them so fast, by the time I remember, it's too late...

I just made some yesterday, and I'll be eating them today in a cuke boat (I'm out of lettuce), so I'll try to remember to take a pic...

This recipe works the same with cooked chicken (fresh or canned, fresh is best), and turkey.

Enjoy!

(oh, and don't worry about the dried fruit or mayo... think of the alternative... greasy cheeseburgers and fries, this is MUCH better for you... REAL FOOD...)

Doctors Visit...

So I had my regular check up yesterday with my Family Practitioner...

Had the blood work done, all the regular tests, got a TB test for my new teaching position etc...

He noticed my weight loss, and noted the 80+ lbs drop and asked my favorite question...

"How are you doing it?"

I told him, briefly {which is  MIRACLE for me, because those of you that know me personally, I am NOT short winded} how I eat now. 

My Doctor was COMPLETELY on board with the plan.

He, being an American of Japanese Descent, EATS THE EXACT SAME WAY... and told me that in his office, was a HUGE lunch of fish, veggies, fruit, minimal bread, and green tea to drink, and that in the evenings he and his wife eat a light salad or fruit for dinner until they are full, and then call it a day.  He says he has eaten that way his entire life, and has never had a weight problem.

Then I wanted to throw my purse at him... LOL...
Why? Because I think he should have mentioned that way of eating A LONG TIME AGO... to me... and maybe I would have taken the advice... or not... who knows... but still... ya just can't keep that kind of information hidden... ya know?

I was so happy to see their scale and my home scale matched the same numbers... don't you HATE it when your home scale reads less than other scales... I was a tad bit nervous to step on theirs, but I battled on, did it, and was pleasantly surprised...

I go back in two weeks for my blood test results... so hopefully the scale will show an even lower number...

I'm going to go make up some more recipes now... Ciao!