Second Nature Eats

While I loved mashed potatoes and eat them quite often, we do need to watch how many potatoes we eat since they essentially just turn to sugar in our bodies once eaten (FYI Russet potatoes have less sugar than Yukon Gold so try to stick with the regular old baking potato when possible) This super easy recipe is the perfect substitute though and a way to eat a ton of cauliflower in one sitting. While it doesn't taste EXACTLY like mashed potatoes, it's pretty damn close and certainly looks like it. I've yet to try it but I also think you could mix potato and cauliflower for an "in between" version. 

Ingredients:
1 small head of cauliflower
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

• Fill a large saucepan with 1 inch of water and fit it with a steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil
  
• Place the cauliflower in the basket, cover, and steam until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain
• Transfer the drained cauliflower to a food processor or blender. Add 2 tablespoons oil and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Puree until smooth.

One of my friends sent me this...signs improved by hilarious graffiti. I love it. Case and point. Fast food = bad news

Last night I decided to experiment a little. I have never used curry powder before but wanted to give it a whirl. Not only did I end up with a tasty meal, it was super quick and easy and only cost $5. I was on the couch to watch Grey's and Private Practice with plenty of time (yes, don't judge me on my bad TV taste).

Buy the following ingredients and you should get 4 meals out of it (plus leftover curry powder and brown rice), coming to only about $5 per meal!

2 can of organic lentil beans: $2.19 per can
1 Bag of frozen organic cauliflower: $2.69 
1 Bag of frozen organic brocoli: $2.99 
2  organic yellow onions: $.95 per onion
2 organic potatoes: $.90 per potato
1 bag of organic brown rice: $4.98
1 bottle curry powder: $4.49

*Prices approx & vary by grocery
** Of course feel free to substitute fresh veggies if you have room in your budget

For 2 meals do the following:
Heat 1 can of lentils in a sauce pan (I like to heat once, turn off heat, wait 5 mins and heat again for "refried bean" effect)
Cook 1 cup brown rice according to directions

In skillet, cook 1 chopped, skinned potato in olive oil until soft. Add 1/2 bag frozen broccoli, 1/2 bag frozen cauliflower, 1/2 chopped yellow onion and curry powder, salt & pepper to taste.

Serve curry veggies with brown rice and lentils.

After visiting Del Frisco's for a steak dinner and splurging on the definitely not non-dairy  mashed potatos, I tried to recreate this delicious side dish. I have to say, the result was just as good and super easy.

Yukon gold potatoes
Scallions
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper

Boil potatoes with skin on until soft (where a fork can easily pass through them). Remove potatos from water and place in a mixing bowl. Mash potatoes with a fork or whisk until smooth but slightly lumpy. Add olive oil, chopped scallions, salt, black and cayenne pepper to taste and desired consistency.

A delicious gluten free, cow’s milk free pasta dinner. And boyfriend approved!

2 large minced garlic cloves
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 package brown rice pasta shells
my favorite brown rice pasta: Tinkyada (http://www.tinkyada.com/)
1 rotisserie chicken
3 ounces goat cheese
Kosher salt & ground black pepper

In a skillet cook the garlic and onion in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is soft, add the tomatoes and the broth, and simmer the mixture until the liquid is reduced by about one third. Stir in the olives, the basil, and salt and pepper to taste and keep the mixture warm.

In a kettle of boiling salted water cook the pasta according to package directions. 

Add the cooked pasta to the tomato mixture and then add shredded rotisserie chicken (amount to your personal liking) and goat cheese and toss the mixture well until the goat cheese melts. Seasonal with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Ever wonder where the concept of eating chicken soup when you are sick came from? Believe it or not, there is a connection between the food we eat and our personality. Chicken soup was used for years and years because chickens are a source of vitality. They are spry, energetic animals and that energy gets passed along into our food. You never hear of beef soup to heal a cold do you? A few others…root vegetables are “Grounding” and boiling your food all the time will leave you with a “bland” personality.

1. Multivitamin

Unfortunately in the world we live in today, with pesticide laden agriculture, hormone and antibiotic filled meat and a host of genetically modified products, we often don't get all the vitamins and nutrients we need from just food. While taking supplements should not excuse use from consuming a healthy diet, multivitamins can be the insurance against gaps in our diet.  

2. Omega 3 Fish Oil

Fish oil is a figher of inflamation - a key issue of almost all chronic illnesses. Everyone needs to be actively fighting silent inflmation and fish oil is a key way to do this. Not all fish oils are created equal though. We all know there are issues with contaminated food, including fish. If you don't get high quality fish oil, you are just consuming contamination. Make sure you get one that says EPA/DHA.

3. Vitamin D

With corporate america desk jobs and sunscreen lathering at the beach, we have drastically reduced our sun intake. Sun is where we get our vitamin D (which enables the absorption of calcium to help protect against cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases, psychosis and many more) but as we are increasingly keeping ourselves out of the sun, we need to supplement.

4. Probiotic

The gut is the "second brain" and host of approximately 80% of our immune system. If our gut is not functioning properly, our whole body AND mind can be off. With all of the antibitoic filled meat in our lives and excessive use of antibiotics, the good and bad bacteria in the gut often get thrown out of balance and in turn throws your whole body out of whack. Probiotics help replenish and balance the good bacteria for overall health. My favorite probiotic is Probiomax: http://www.xymogen.com/2008/formula.asp?code=000255

This video makes me feel a little less crazy about my need to eat organic grass fed beef and free range chicken. While I stand behind the health benefits of avoiding factory farmed meat, there is of course a line to be drawn but I love the humor in this.

Guess we know what side of the dairy debate Jeremy Scott is on. I love this pic from his Fall/Winter 2011/12 collection.

I would have to agree. While the USDA would like us to believe dairy is an essential part of the human diet, there is much proof that not only is it NOT essential, it can actually do harm.

1. Many people have a sensitivity to the sugar lactose or the protein casein found in cow's milk products and they don't even know it. When this happens it reeks havoc on your immune system creating a host of problems over time.

2. Even if you aren't sensitive to it, the process of pasteurization and homogenization takes out much of what is good for us in dairy and then creates fats that are foreign to the human digestive system. Again reeking havoc.

3. And if that isn't enough to steer you away from cow's milk, and you think you need the calcium to prevent osteoporosis, it has been found that populations that don't typically consume dairy products actually have less cases of osteoporosis. Not to mention, osteoporosis is now believed to be an inflammatory disease and cow's milk is known to be a pro-inflammatory food.

CHECK OUT MY DAIRY FREE GUIDE FOR MORE INFO.