Greetings!
I loved reading your I Believe comments from this morning…what an amazing bunch you are.
I forgot something from my I Believe list this morning…
I Believe…
- The key to a happy relationship is telling your partner one specific thing you appreciate about them and why, every single day.
This applies to all kinds of relationships…romantic, family, friendship, co-workers, etc. Everyone loves to be appreciated!
When I tell Eric something that I appreciate about him I can literally see his entire face light up with pride. Sometimes all someone needs is a ‘I notice what you do and I thank you for it.’ Now, go on and tell someone in your life how much you appreciate them!
In other news, I could not fathom eating anything cooked/hot/heated up today. It was another scorcher! I was cooking myself and needed to be cooled off…
LUNCH:
2 pieces of Eziekel bread with 1 cup of tomato curry chickpeas. I used 1 cup chickpeas + 2-3 tbsp tomato paste + 1/4 tsp Arvinda’s curry masala spice.
[Ok, ok I lied…the bread was toasted!]
+ Purslane Green Monster made up of 2 cups of Purslane, 1 cup almond milk, 1.5 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp raw maca powder, ice, ice baby. The cinnamon was fabulous and I didn’t even need any fruit! I can’t believe I have not been adding cinnamon to my Green Monsters all this time. I will also be adding some cinnamon to my next batch of Vegan Overnight Oats too. I remember how much I enjoyed it when Eric made me some and I totally forgot about it.
I am loving Purslane greens in my Green Monsters!
The Purslane is so energizing, largely in part to all the wonderful omega oils and antioxidants it provides. I felt on fire this afternoon and cranked through over 200 Glo Bars baked, packaged, labeled, and boxed up!
Today is our Plan B CSA day which means scarfing some major veggies to make room for the new box! If you need some motivation to eat more veggies I highly recommend getting a CSA share. Eric and I eat more veggies now than we ever have. Surprisingly, I think we have ended up saving money because we have cut down our grocery store trips by half and we aren’t making those impulse purchases like before.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink Salad
Ingredients:
- Greens = Spinach + Mixed greens
- 2 small carrots
- 1 large tomato
- 1 large avocado
- 1 huge green onion stalk
- 1.5 cups snow peas
- Dried parsley, to garnish
- Freshly ground black pepper, to garnish
- Better than bottled balsamic vinaigrette
Awesome salad! The snow peas were a nice addition!
On the side we each had a slice of cold pie…IN A JIFFY VEGGIE PIE!
I had mine on a bed of TJ’s Habanero and lime salsa.
It was a great dinner!
Dessert was the last of the Cherry, Banana, and coconut butter bread. I am fighting tears as I type this.
This was the defrosted leftovers and it was even more moist and gooey than before. It was so doughy…I was in love!
Just look at that gooey bread!
For Eric, this gooey bread was a texture nightmare.
He stuck to his ‘dry’ mini loaves that I cooked the hell out of last week (he just loves them though!).
To each their own. :tongue:
Healthy Eating: A Love Affair With The Kitchen
Recently, I received an email from a reader named ‘Krista’ telling me about all of these wonderful changes she has made to her health. One of the things that Krista mentioned was that since she has started eating healthier, she spends so much more time in the kitchen prepping vegetables, washing dishes/new appliances, and cooking among other things. She didn’t say that this was a bad thing necessarily, as she enjoys it for the most part, she just thought it was interesting to point out how much more time is required to eat healthy.
Oh did this email hit home with me!
I thought this was such an interesting point about how healthy eating requires not only a commitment to EAT healthier foods, but it involves a commitment to spend the time to prepare healthier foods.
As you can imagine, I spend hours and hours in the kitchen, not only because I run a bakery, but because I prepare and cook most of my meals. Eating healthy is a huge time commitment- there is the washing, drying, chopping, roasting, sautéing, prepping, packing, planning, shopping, DISH WASHING, APPLIANCE WASHING (damn you, juicer!!!!!!), cooking flops (story of my life), etc. Eric always jokes that I should put Professional Dish Washer (P.D.W.) on my resume because I wash so many dishes and so many appliances each day.
Because my time is limited, I rely on very quick and simple recipes. That is why you will rarely see me whip up a meal that takes longer than 15-20 minutes. Over time, I have figured out what will work for me. While some days the last thing I want to do is prepare a healthy meal for myself, often I enjoy the satisfaction that comes with creating healthy meals that I can feel good about.
Can you relate to having to spend more time in the kitchen to eat healthier? Do you spend more time in the kitchen now than in the past? What are your time-saving tricks to limit the amount of time it takes to eat healthy?
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story
I can definitely relate. Sometimes it just seems like it takes TOO much time to eat healthy. But I know that I feel the best when I make most of my food at home using fresh ingredients and knowing what goes into my food. It’s so worth it!! I like to make big batches of certian things (this week it was tabbouleh) and have lots of fruits and veggies on hand that you can make different meals out of.
I definitely spend MUCH mor time in the kitchen now than I ever have before. I’m there for every single meal and in between. I love it..and my mom’s pretty happy about it, too. It measn less cooking for her during the holidays! :D
Just out of curiosity because I have been hesitant to try it, what does maca powder taste like?! Yes I agree I feel like I am in the kitchen 2/3 of the day always whipping something healthy up!!, being vegan takes more time too…can’t just whip out some turkey and cheese! or grab a slice of pizza
Maca powder does NOT taste good in my opinion, but used in small amounts the taste can be masked! It sort of tastes like funky caramel and that is putting it nicely lol
LOL thanks for the heads up, mybe I will wait to try it aha
I agree that eating healthy does take more effort and thought. I do think though I have found what works for me and my meals do not take very long to make anymore. I love spending time in the kitchen though and creating new recipes so I don’t mind it! Although the dish washing gets kind of tedious from time to time….
Oh yes yes yes. I find myself in the kitchen more, but it only makes me more excited about eating healthy. I find that I enjoy my food more when I’ve taken the time to prep and cook it. To save on time though, as soon as I get home from the grocery store (usually once or twice a week), I do a produce chop. I clean, chop, and store all my produce for the week. I find that it saves so much time and the food actually stays fresher.
When I’m cooking and especially when I’m baking, I try to follow my Nana’s advice “Wash as you go!” It shortens things some. Between cooking dinner and preparing food for lunch the next day, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I love to use the time to listen to podcasts from NPR.
Im a big fan of rinsing and soaking as I go!
I really had to work hard to find a good balance between the time it takes to make healthy meals and the time I need to spend exercising- while still allowing a little time for me to decompress in the evenings. On my rest days, I don’t mind spending an hour and a half in the kitchen (I really enjoy it), but I try to have dinner on the table in 40 minutes or less on days that I also work out. So my rule of thumb for quick days is to quickly bake some chicken or turkey for my fiance (and me if I feel like it, but I’m erring more on the vegetarian side these days and often opt for a poached egg instead- which takes about 8 minutes to cook) which usually cooks in about half an hour. Whole grain pasta or microwaved sweet potatoes are a quick way for me to get in some healthy carbs- amaranth and quinoa cook very quickly as well. If I want wheat berries, I make them the night before, and I know that brown rice or barley take about 40 minutes for me too cook- so that’s pushing it, but sometimes that’s what I want. As for veggies, sauteed spinach takes literally 2 minutes and is one of my favorites. Roasted veggies take about half an hour, and I also like to blanch things like brocolli or green beans. Salads, obviously, are also really fast. Canned beans heated up with veggies are also fast and tasty.
What really makes things come together quickly for me is that I take these discreet elements and put them all together, sometimes as separate piles of food, but sometimes all mixed together with some tomato sauce. In general though, quick healthy cooking involves me keeping things very simple. When I want to do some complicated baking or anything involving a sauce that is not made of canned tomatoes, I need more time.
Yes, eating well certainly preperation and effort indeed! I don’t really notice though, not until I make a point at looking at how much of my ‘domestic time’ actually involves food: planning it, procuring it, preparing it, and putting in mah face!
I don’t really notice it as being a chore or anything, because healthy food is just integrated into my lifestyle. It is important to me and more than worth the effort after years of disordered, oddball eating. Ugh! I remember the days when my grocery order would be something like: 2 litres of Pepsi, deli salad, bags upon bags of Lipton Sidekicks, and a plastic tub of chocolate almonds (<-'healthy snack'!) After that sort of living, it is a treat to have transitioned to a mostly vegan diet, full of flavour and variety. I am definitely healthier and happier and more fit now that I care about eating whole food and fresh vegetables.
It also helps that I am not inclined anymore toward eating out, or buying processed foods in general. I usually prefer what I`m able to make. That`s a pretty cool feeling! I also enjoy cooking and kitcheny stuff. Recently I had a houseguest who is the opposite; not as bad as I used to be, but she is way more happy to get take-out. She even grumbled about my lack of modern conveniences like a microwave. Everything she cooks at home is done in the microwave, she explained, and actually bringing out pots to cook seemed like a fuss. She thought I was nuts for coming home from work and making a nice dinner instead of getting something to go and 'just relaxing.' I find cooking relaxing though…a good transition from my busy work self to the reflective domestic version.
By the way, I often pop by your blog around dinner time to see what you`ve posted for your own meal. It always looks so appetizing it totally inspires me to put some added attention into dinner!
I can relate to you enjoying the process now as compared to your ED past. I never took any pleasure in cooking or food before my recovery so it is a nice breath of fresh air. Thanks for the reminder!
I definitely spend more time in the kitchen because of trying to eat healthier, but I do try to save time there by making certain things ahead of time, if I can, or doing lots of veg chopping ahead of time and bagging based on what it’s going to be used for. I also have some good quick recipes that we love, so I’ll plan those for the nights that we’ve got workouts scheduled, etc! I do love my kitchen :)
i love this post…being in the kitchen always came naturally to me growing up with my parents, but it’s become almost a therapeutic thing for me! it’s the only place in my house that consistently clean, and i just love spending time in there :)
While it is definitely true that making a commitment towards a healthy lifestyle is one that is time consuming and can be a little messy with plenty of clean up required, I think it is all a matter of looking at it from the proper perspective. When you’re in the kitchen cooking, it becomes a social event or activity- rather than sitting down and watching TV with unhealthy or “fast food” you’re moving around, chatting with your friend/husband/family/boyfriend/girlfriend etc… Even if you’re cooking alone you can have fun with good music on, sipping on a cocktail or mocktail and enjoy your time being creative. Cooking healthy meals has really made me appreciate how much fun cooking can be that it seems like less of a chore, and more of a creative outlet. AND if you keep a sink full of dishwater going at all times and rinsing/washing dishes as you go, the clean up at the end is way easier :)
I love your point of view on this! Great way to look at it. Eric and I always have our post work catch up over dinner and dishes :)
I agree, I try to look at cooking as more of a hobby…especially when I am sitting at a desk for 8 hours. It’s nice to come home and spend some time on my feet preparing a healthy dinner, cleaning, talking to my boyfriend, etc.
I love your additional “I believe…”
I tell my Boyfriend I love him every day, but I want to start telling him reasons why I appreciate him too :) Thanks!
im sure he will love that!
i can completely relate to what krista is saying. eating healthy requires spending A LOT of time in the ktichen. thankfully i love to cook so this isnt to big of a problem for me. but for people who arent use to this i can definitely see it being a hard transition.
I can completely relate — I also enjoy not just the food I prepare, but the time I spend in the kitchen making it and the effort I put into chopping, cooking, and plating everything. Washing dishes isn’t too bad either… if it’s just dishes, it can actually be therapeutic to me! Lol and I always carry my camera around now, too, to get snapshots of my creations. I love doing all this, and I know that every little thing counts towards a healthier happier me :D
Yes I spend a lot more time in the kitchen than I used to. . . and yet I am so time pressed that I like to think that I’m a great example of how anyone at all can fit the healthy meals into their lifestyle . . . for me it all revolves around meal planning
Hi Angela! I can’t tell you how much I just love you and your website! I have a weird question- I’m a COMPLETE foodie and enjoy making pretty dishes,so I’d like to know where in the world you get all the adorable,super-sleek tall glasses that are in your posts for VOO and your green tea recipe. I’d love to know how to purchase some!
I like to put my juice and VOO in extra-large champagne glasses which are fun, or a big margarita glass ! I have an awesome margarita- inspired juice recipe on my blog- here’s the link if you get a chance:)
http://millieskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/06/vega-rita-juice.html
Also, I LOVE the Pink Parade Post you made! My room is painted pink and I’m 25! I’m such a crazed fan of the color, so I definitely plan on buying some cherries to make the VOO and remarkably, your juicing ingredients are the only ones left in MY fridge too,so I’ll be making your pink juice tomorrow!) yay- so excited:)
I spend lots of time in my kitchen preparing foods. I am vegan and eat several raw foods and meals,so many times I’m soaking seeds or nuts or grains or juicing or blending! I need to start cooking for myself more and your blog is inspiring me to do that! I used to do this quite often but went really raw and quit. My IBS has returned and so I definitely plan on eating more cooked foods like the ones you show!I love your Coconut Bread recipe! I have made one similar and substituted the cherries with blueberries because they’re my favorite,and WOW- So yummy. I even made them into cookies too! That recipe is here:
http://millieskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/06/all-peeved-up-spiced-out-and-rolled-up.html
Anyway, thanks for the info on the glasses if you get a chance:) In the meantime, keep up your inspirational work.
Heart and Soul,
Heather McClees
Thank you for such a sweet comment Heather! =) Your blog looks great! As for your question about the glasses, I purchase them at Crate and Barrel- many of them are actually small vases if you can believe it! haha.
Before I started eating healthier, I rarely spent any time in the kitchen. I went in there for something to drink…and maybe to put the leftovers from take-out? That’s about it. Now I’m chopping, slicing, dicing, cooking, steaming, sauteeing, blending, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!
Definitely a lot of work, but it is worth it!
YOU GO GIRL! haha cant believe i just said that, but I’ll go with it ;p
LOL =)
Love that you’re still enjoying your TJ’s goodies!! ;) I also love gooey bread + cinnamon in EVERYthing!!! I definitely spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but I feel like I have always spent a lot of time in the kitchen, even when I wasn’t cooking the healthiest meals. I would say that I definitely do more dishes now though! Sometimes I get annoyed w/the dishes, as I make at least 2 good kitchen messes per day…but I kind of just zone out + get it done! I’m sure you feel the same. I remember all of the granola cleaning…eek!
granola cleaning eats up my soul. Hands + knees picking off granola stuck to the floor is how I spend my evenings. lol.
My secret is leftovers! Also, I make easy stuff that doesn’t take a lot of time, like sweet potatoes – just pop them in the oven, no work required. When I’m going to be spending some time washing and chopping veggies, I put on a favorite TV show and it becomes quite enjoyable! I can feel productive and have fun. I just posted a recipe on my blog for my Instant Colcannon – mashed potatoes and kale that takes 3 minutes. So I make stuff like that.
yes I spend more time in the kitchen now. paying attention to what i eat it important for me. when i just got take out or premade meals, i spent less time in the kitchen, but my health was not as good. i started spending time in the kitchen mostly to make raw foods, but then found it so fun i really look forward to it. unless it is really hot like today, in that case cutting a watermelon open is about as fancy as it gets.