The cookbook Appetite for Reduction has been my go-to book this year. Author Isa Chandra Moskowitz nails it creating vegan food that satisfies. One of the things I like the most is that she offers suggestions for complimentary dishes to create a complete meal. She also includes nutritional info for each recipe. We make her baked falafel nearly every other week. Her salad dressings are the bomb. I could go on and on. I follow her on facebook for recipe updates and check her blog as well. Check out her other books including Veganomicon and make sure to try the Tofu Po’ Boy. Good grief, it’s delicious.

http://www.theppk.com/

http://www.theppk.com/books/appetite-for-reduction/

Some other great recipes from her website:

Pesto Soup with Gnocchi, Beans and Greens (husband approved)

Broccoli Curry Udon

Miso Soba Stir Fry with Greens and Beans

Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto

From our Health Starts Here recipes I have enjoyed:

Black Beans and Rice Extravaganza

Kale Waldorf Salad

Rainbow Kale Salad

Romantic Rice Bowl

Smoky Split Pea Soup

Tahini Miso Sauce

Tomato Bulgur Soup with Warm Spices

There are a lot of resources on our website, http://wholefoodsmarket.com/healthstartshere/ including how to steam fry. Once you learn this technique it’s easier to convert some of your favorite recipes into low oil versions. Just a little broth does the trick.

This cookbook is nice because it’s low fat, vegan and the recipes come together quickly: The Mcdougall Quick and Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less

This book talks about cravings and includes some good recipes too: Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings—And 7 Steps to End Them Naturally. I like the tostada recipe.

In addition I rely on vegan Boca burgers for easy meals. They are tasty and I like to add some sauerkraut and fresh veggies. Serve it with the OMG Oven Baked Onion Rings from Appetite for Reduction.

Something I like to make for weekday breakfasts is a batch of Steel Cut Oats. You can make a batch for the whole week and just heat up a bit in the morning with a little almond milk. The ratio I use is 6 cups water to 1.5 cups oats. While it cooks I add a can of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices and a little agave for sweetness.

On the weekend I occasionally make Spiced Coconut Pancakes with Tropical Fruit by Mark Bittman. I also like his The Food Matters Cookbook but I have to adapt the recipes because there is so much olive oil. There’s also a lot of meat but I either leave it out or sub with tofu.

Ok, this should get you started. I am a recipe nerd so I will send out recipes I like either on the blog or on the facebook page.

I started last January on the 1^st. I decided to eat only recipes from the Health Starts Here program. I was nervous that I would not like the taste of the food and could not imagine having to cut out olive oil, and limit cheeses and meat let alone go vegan. Just rabbit food? It was a scary concept and it took some trial and error to find recipes that we liked, I will admit. The changes didn’t come easy at first.

At the time there was a little dairy allowed in our Health Starts Here program which worked for me because I was a cheese-a-holic. I could eat cheese 3 meals a day and have it for snacks. It was bad and I even referred to myself as ‘addicted’ to cheese. Through the process of researching our program I read the book, Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard. Yeah, one can really be addicted to cheese. This realization made me cut way back on the dairy. (Our Health Starts Here program no longer allows dairy). I no longer have milk in the house and the only cheese I buy is Parmigiano Reggiano. I don’t use that much of it and I can’t eat pasta without it and I refuse to give up pasta. We use coconut creamer in our coffee and my preferred nondairy milk is almond.

I think the hardest part of the switch had to be changing my cravings. Before then I would get off work and think about what I was hungry for. It usually consisted of something starchy and cheesy and easy. Broccoli and salad were the only produce items regularly on the menu. I knew that I could no longer rely on my cravings to dictate my meals; I had to start menu planning. Menu planning takes time and I usually get it done in an hour. I sit down with a chart of the week and a stack of my favorite cookbooks and plan what I am going to make for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the same time I am writing my grocery list. I shop twice a week to make sure that everything in my house is fresh and it also allows for some flexibility in case we get invited out to dinner. The time it takes is worth it. I know what is in my food, I use everything I buy, and we save a ton of money packing our lunches which usually consist of leftovers from the night before. I mean we save A LOT, maybe even $250 a month on lunches. (When you first change your diet you may find that you need to buy some expensive things that you didn’t have in your house like tahini but don’t worry, it will last you a long time and you should see your costs go down as you build your healthier pantry).

Once my cravings were under control I could keep in perspective why I had made the change in my diet which helped me to stick with it. I wanted to feel better, lose weight and gain health. It’s been a year now since I have changed my eating habits and in that time I have lost 22lbs. and have gotten my BMI into normal range just by changing my diet. Now our menu remains vegetarian or vegan with an occasional fish or chicken dish at home once a week. Luckily, I know my way around the kitchen and have learned which recipes we really like which means we are eating really tasty healthy food and don’t miss a thing that we’ve cut out. Meals out I stick with either a vegetarian, chicken or fish option and I am not opposed to fried things, they are a treat. Along with my cheese craving went my craving for red meat and pork and other fatty tastes, except for fries, mmm, fries. Sometimes I just gotta do it.

The holidays were an interesting time for eating healthfully and I definitely let my standards slip so I am excited to get back into healthy eating by taking the Engine 2 28-day challenge (I don’t want old cravings sneaking back). I am starting it as a full-on Firefighter, meaning a completely vegan, low-oil diet the whole time. These days I am not fearful of speaking about healthy eating because I am so proud of what I have accomplished. I don’t see these changes as a diet, it’s really a lifestyle change and I just want to keep going.

Here are some books that I found helpful:

Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Food-Seduction-Cravings—-Naturally/dp/0312314949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325191156&sr=8-1

The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn

http://www.amazon.com/Engine-Diet-Firefighters-Save-Your-Life-Cholesterol/dp/0446506699/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325193162&sr=1-1

Appetite for Reduction (amazing low fat vegan food) by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

http://www.amazon.com/Appetite-Reduction-Filling-Low-Fat-Recipes/dp/1600940498/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325193226&sr=1-1

Movies that I found encouraging:

Forks Over Knives

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

Foodmatters

I recently visited Anne Amie winery for about the 10th time. I keep going back time and time again for their wonderful wines and phenomenal staff. Anne Amie is located in the hillside of Chehalem Mountains. The tasting room is located on top of a hill and offers a breathtaking view. The tasting room is large with high ceilings , lots of natural light, and an expansive porch overlooking a majestic mountain range. Lounging on the porch tasting wine and taking in this view is a relaxing and mentally calming experience.  

“Our mission is to produce wines that, while inspired by Burgundy and Alsace, express the unique characteristics of Oregon and our two estate vineyard sites..Our Pinot noir winemaking is minimalist, focusing on small fermentation lots using indigenous yeast and malolactic.  The wines are all aged in French oak of which only about 25% is new in each vintage. Our goal is to craft elegant, restrained wines that clearly speak of the vineyards in which they were grown.”

Every trip to Anne Amie has been so incredible in part due to their amazing staff. The winery staff at Anne Amie is knowledgeable, inviting and warm. My partner and I love this place so much that we brought our friends and family there for wine tasting before our wedding last year. Our guests enjoyed a relaxing sit down wine flight with food pairings to nibble on. It was a wonderful way to bring the people we love in our lives together.  

Anne Amie Vineyards

March–December: Daily, 10am–5pm

His environmental stewardship has been recognized by  California League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Coalition for Clean Air, Heal the Bay, and the Santa Monica Baykeeper. He currently serves on the boards of Thoreau Institute, the Earth Communications Office, Tree People, and Friends of the Earth.

1. Choose your basket
2. Choose the items you’d like
3. Purchase everything
4. Bring all the contents to our holiday table for complimentary assembly

Here is an example of a basket I made today.

Here are some of the baskets we have to choose from. I hope to see you soon at the holiday table with gifts in tow. I’d love to wrap something up and put a bow on it for you this holiday season.

If you have any questions about holiday meal ordering or customized gift baskets give me a call, our store number is 503.284.2644 extension 410.

Happy Holidays, Beth aka Holiday Guru

Hello Readers,

For this post I’ve taken a new approach and have email interviewed the proprietor. Sina Bakery is owned by Jewelie  Cordero Schultz. She produces  a traditional Brazilian cheese bread called Pãobread. At our store we sell two varieties of her bread in our frozen section. Jewelie learned how to make this special bread while she was a high school exchange student in Brazil. She launched her company after perfecting her recipe at home  for ten years. Check out my interview to get the full story behind Jewelie’s experience that lead to her starting Sina Bakery.  My questions are in black and Julie’s responses are in blue.

I love that your company sources locally. Would you tell me where some of your ingredients are sourced from?

I use Tillamook cheddar, Willamette Valley eggs, and milk from Spring Valley Dairy. I use expeller pressed safflower oil from Glorybee foods; I think it is NW grown, that’s what my sales rep said, but I’ll have to double check on that.

If you’ve been following our blog you will notice that once a week I feature a local product we carry at our store. This is one way we can support local business, our local economy and bring more information to our customers.This week I’m featuring Origami Sushi Catering.

Origami Sushi is located about 2 miles away from our store in SE Portland. The chefs who prepare the sushi personally deliver their product to our stores every morning. Origami Sushi uses the Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch  guidelines to select fish that is sustainably harvested. OSC provides  transparency regarding seafood sourcing by listing their sources directly on their website. The Philadelphia and Oregon rolls are made with wild Alaskan salmon. The California rolls are made with Alaskan Pollock. The spicy tuna roll and shrimp salad roll are both made with seafood sources from Oregon. The sushi and salad rolls are made of 100% natural ingredients. The smoked fish is made the natural way with a smoker full of cedar instead of using non-natural additives like sodium nitrate.

If you were wondering more about the Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch guidelines check out  their website. www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

Origami Shushi keeps it green by using compostable packaging. The sushi boxes are made by Nature Works Eco Products, and can be composted right into most commercial composting, including the commercial composting that is starting to roll out to Portland residents starting at the end of the month.  This program is for single family homes and housing complexes with 4 or less units.

Origamisushi rolls and salad rolls are kept chilly in our prepared foods grab and go refrigerated section.

Some of the staples of the line are Women’s Symmetry, Senior Symmetry, FemTeen Symmetry, Opti-Recovery, and Herbal Symmetry. Women’s and Senior Symmetry are both hypoallergenic, preservative free and formulated to support the specific health needs of women at different life stages. These contain no artificial colors, flavors, sucrose, glucose, starch, lactose, salt, corn, wheat, soy or milk derivatives. Vitanica extends way beyond general supplements, what I’ve been able to list in this brief blog. Other groups of supplements include; pregnancy support, monthly cycle care, immune support, mind and body support, menopause support, bone support, cardiovascular support, breast health, and single herb products. Online each product is listed with ingredients and product descriptions. Visit our Whole Body department to learn more about this local line of natural supplements. 

I’ve included a lot about this line of product but I wanted to include a little information about the founder of Vitanica. Dr. Tori Hudson is a leading voice in America in the field of women’s healthcare and natural medicine with 27 years of experience. She has served as the Program Director for Institute of Women’s Health and Intergraded Medicine. She has also contributed to the naturopathic health community as a national lecturer, magazine contributor, author, educator and researcher. She writes a blog exploring a wide range of topics on natural health care, I highly recommend checking it out.  http://drtorihudson.com/

Recently I had the opportunity to meet Debra and Hugo when they paid my store a visit. I was greeted by Hugo as he dabbed some vanilla mandarin lotion onto the back of my hand. The duo exudes excitement for their products. Hugo bubbles over with excitement telling me about the great lengths they go through to make the highest quality natural body care products. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the two and their product instantly.

Like many local businesses, Hugo Naturals started small. Hugo and Deborah’s business started with their handmade bars of soap they sold at the local farmer’s market. The soaps were an instant hit, and demand grew as word of mouth spread with glowing reviews. As business flourished Hugo Naturals was able to expand. Growth has not compromised quality, they still maintain a focus on making a naturally pure product. All Hugo Naturals products are free of petrochemicals, animal fats, parabens, silicones, formaldehyde, hydroquinone, phthalates, propylene glycol, and synthetic surfactants. Products are never tested on animals and are gluten free. Essential oils and botanical extracts give Hugo Naturals their fragrance, never using artificial scents.  To preserve the quality and freshness of the product two natural methods are employed. Japanese Honeysuckle and rosemary extract as natural preservative. Another trick they’ve used to preserve freshness is to reduce the amount of water content.

Come discover Hugo Naturals in our Whole Body department. We carry their bulk soap, prepackaged bars and hand soaps.