Stir Fry recipe - Marcella

The nice thing about stir fries is you can use whatever you have on hand. An alternative to the tofu could be shelled edamame...alternatives to the greens could be bok choy or spinach, alternatives to mushrooms could be canned water chestnuts or just nothing. A drizzling of sesame oil (in this case with wasabi, from Trader Joe's) is key to making it delicious. We had this with edamame, salad, and no rice at all and it was still very filling.

We are cutting out the processed grains entirely for several meals a week, and so far it's been easy: stay tuned for a bunch of recipes that I accumulated while studying/not posting.

Stir Fry

• 1 package xtra firm tofu, cubed
• shiitake or other mushrooms sliced
• green cabbage, shredded
• baby broccoli or bok choy
• pepper to taste
  
• (optional) Chinese red chili powder to taste
• low sodium soy sauce, if you must
  
• sesame oil

1. Spray medium pan with cooking spray and add tofu, sprinkling with the red chili powder to coat if you like. I recommend Tan-A Asian grocery on W. Broad - or any Asian grocery wherever you may live - as a source for super cheap veggies, spices, and tofu. Tan-A has - as we used to say in high school - a metric butt-ton of faux meats in the frozen section as well, but they're pretty salty. Anyway, cook the tofu til golden-ish and set aside.
2. Add the cabbage and pepper to taste to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes. It tastes much better if you let it get a little charred, imo. Meanwhile steam the baby broccoli or bok choy.
   
3. Add everything to the pan and cook a few minutes more. Just before serving, drizzle with a bit of sesame oil.
4. Eat with NO rice and a side of edamame (available in the frozen section as steam-in-bag in the microwave at most supermarkets) and I promise you'll get really full in that wholesome, carbless kind of way.
   

The Wonders of Phytochemicals! - Derek

I've wanted to post something about this for a while, so I finally went through several of my old exercise magazines and clipped out some nutrition articles. For those of you who read such magazines with any regularity, you probably recognize the type of article I was looking for. They usually begin with "such and such chemical found to have xyz dramatic health benefits", then they go on to tell you to buy said chemical in supplement form. I always find these articles funny (and frustrating) because of their obvious implications. Here are some I cut out as examples:

• Antioxidants in blueberries found to slow the effects of aging - CNN
  
• Beta-ecdysterone in spinach increases protein synthesis [muscle growth] by 20% - MuscleMag
• Betaine from beets found to increase muscle endurance and recovery - Flex
• Fruits and vegetables help maintain muscle mass and reduce muscle wasting in older adults - MuscleMag
• ECGC in green tea boosts the immune system and helps reduce bodyfat - Muscle and Fitness
• Capsaicin in hot peppers helps reduce overeating and aids in loss of bodyfat - Muscle and Fitness
• Polyphenols in apples increase muscle strength - Flex
• Licorice extract from the licorice plant increases weight loss - MuscleMag
• Resveratrol in grapes is a potent anti-cancer chemical - Men's Health
• Lycopene in tomatoes prevents prostate cancer - Eating Well

The pattern is pretty obvious to me, but the magazines inevitably go on to advertise a supplement form of the aforementioned chemical to reap the health benefits. It seems a lot easier and less expensive to me to eat a salad or have some fruit. Not only that, but there are literally thousands of phytochemicals in all the plants we eat. Isn't there just a chance one of those that hasn't yet been studied is also beneficial? Isn't there also a chance that some of these compounds have synergistic benefits when eaten together? It seems reasonable to assume so, so we can go ahead and say that eating produce to ingest these miracle compounds is easier, cheaper, and more-than-likely much healthier than taking them as isolated supplements. Hmmmm...

Just me ranting on what ought to be obvious, but I hope this encourages everyone to eat even more greens and beans!

New Weight Set!

I finished classes last week (yay), but have still found posting difficult, so I don't think I will be able to more than once or twice a week. For our workouts, we bought a used weight set and have been working out more than once a day, which is great for our progress, but very hard to keep track of for posting. I have been roughly following my same split, but now my workouts are shorter and more numerous.

In addition to making up to date posting harder, the new gym has allowed me to get more creative with exercises since I am not as crunched for time. For the past week I have been using a lot of dynamic resistance (ie stretch bands) to add a different feel to many of my favorite exercises. By attaching a band to a weight so that lifting the weight stretches the band, the weight becomes heavier the farther you move it. This dynamic resistance is generally used by strength and speed athletes to improve performance, but it also provides a great peak contraction at the top of every lift, which can aid muscle growth.

Fettucine and Green Beans with Mushroom Creme!

No time to post really until after August 19th, sadly. I wanted to get this one up, though as it is a particular favorite of mine. As demonstrated in a previous post, you can make a respectable cream sauce with "silken" tofu. This sauce is kinda like Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, only not bursting with saturated fat-filled condensed cream.

Let's call it:

Fettuccine and Green Beans with Mushroom Creme

• soft Mori-Nu tofu - usually on the shelf in the natural foods section, not refrigerated
  
• mushrooms of choice, sliced
  
• low sodium vegetable bouillon or soup base - serving appropriate for 1 cup broth
  
• 5 oz. whole-wheat fettuccine
• 1 lb green beans
• nutritional yeast (optional) - Ellwoods has it in the bulk bin
  
• black pepper to taste

1. You can kind of see in the picture what the tofu package looks like - it's vacuum packed or something, so it won't be in the usual refrigerated section. It's worth the search, however, for the silken-style tofu because it's consistency is far better for sauces. For the pasta I used Trader Joe's sprouted whole wheat fettucine.
   
2. First, lightly spray a pan with cooking spray and saute mushrooms with the merest dash of salt until they start to release their moisture and get nice and browned. Remove from heat.
3. In a food processor or blender, combine the package tofu, 1 cup of the mushrooms, bouillon or vegetable base, and nutritional yeast. Return to mushroom pan, add black pepper to taste and simmer on low.
4. Meanwhile, steam green beans and cook pasta.
5. Combine all and serve. Maybe some fresh herbs would be nice if some are available - parsley or something.

The sauce should look something like this: creamy and smooth. Tastes fantastic. I love "cream" sauces, always have. If the prospect of using tofu for such a purpose is still daunting, try this recipe first for a vegetable-based creamless cream sauce.

Yummmm!

Vegan Weight Gainer revision, and more

As I had mentioned I've been playing around with the weight gainer shake we made up to aid in my calorie surplus. Through trial and error I have whittled away some unnecessary ingredients to make it easier to make and/or shop for. I found that it tastes fine without the agave nectar or the vanilla, so I've cut them out, and by removing TVP the shake is simultaneously less processed and less chunky, a trade I have found reasonable for the loss in protein.

In addition to these removals I have come across a superfood I really should have known about before now. While searching for seeds lower in fat than sunflower seeds, I discovered Pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds).


Pepitas have more protein and less fat per calorie than any other seeds I've come across, have an excellent amino acid profile (which means they have all the amino acids your body needs) and they are rich in minerals (Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, and Phosphorus). A detailed nutritional analysis on Nutritiondata.com even rated their protein score as higher than eggs! (and instead of the whopping amount of cholesterol and nutrient void they have minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals).

Check out all their stats here. The only precaution I will add before anyone goes on an all pumpkin seed diet is that being a seed they are high in fat, so eating too many will make losing bodyfat difficult if that is your goal.

INGREDIENTS (Calories/Carbs/Protein/Fat/Fiber):

• 1/4 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds (153/5/7/13/1)
• 1 scoop NitroFusion, or similar protein powder (190/9/25/2/2)
• 1 cup soymilk (90/7/7/3.5/1)
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 banana (121/31/1/0/4)
• 1 can canellini beans, rinsed [aka white kidney beans] (420/73/28/0/35)
• [optional] cocoa powder to taste

Directions: Blend all ingredients to desired consistency

Total stats: 974 calories, 125g carbs, 68g protein, 18.5g fat, 43g fiber

Or, for an all whole foods shake omit the protein powder for stats like:
784 calories, 116g carbs, 43g protein, 16.5g fat, and 41g fiber

Either way, a great and highly nutritious shake with stats to match. I would even recommend a half serving of the whole food version to those looking for a meal replacement shake that would help weight loss or maintenance.

Chickpea and Tomato Soup

Impromptu soup for lunch:

Chickpea and Tomato Soup

• 2 carrots, cut lengthwise and chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
  
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can low sodium diced tomatoes
• around 4 cups water
  
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• black pepper
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  

1. Saute carrots, celery, and onion in about 2 Tbsp water for 5 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Spices can be changed up for different effects, from (cinnamon, turmeric, cayenne, dash lemon juice) for a Moroccan stew to (oregano, parsley, bay leaf-remove before blending) for an Italian stew.
   
3. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour
4. Blend a portion of the soup, return to pot and coarsely mash the rest.

I also decided to steam a bag of frozen spinach to have with it...thinking that we really had nothing to eat...then added a mashed up block of tofu...then realized we had some of the whole wheat low-carb wraps and diced tomato around for an unusual but filling accompaniment to the soup.

Sometimes things that sound weird and unappetizing turn out to be unexpectedly good.

Try high reps for some good lean fun

The posting seems to have come a halt as life (school exams+work) has been busy lately, but with only one more week of classes things should slow down a bit and I will be posting more often.

I have missed posting many workouts, but seeing as I was on an extended bodybuilding phase I didn't leave much out. I just finished a high rep phase, which I described a while back as type of routine I work in to maintain muscle endurance as well as definition, burn lots of calories, and just to mix it up. Those of you who have the pleasure of training with me (ie my beloved victims) would recognize this cycle's fast pace and splendid burning sensations. I feel your pain. Here are two of the high rep workouts I did to give an idea:











For those of you interested in the details of this cycle, there are a few tricks I use in addition to the obvious less weight less rest more reps. I also like to work in different styles of exercise, such as more dumbells for greater range of motion, and calisthenics to improve coordination balance etc.. Also, when I super set exercises, I will choose two for the same muscle group, rather than opposing muscle groups, to really get them burning.

Sometimes, to really mix things up, I will perform Tabata intervals on my high reps days. A select few of my clients have experienced these and know how 'fun' they are. Feel free to check them out at:

Tabata Training

I've also been playing around with the weight gainer shake recipe a bit and will give an updaed version in my next post. Suffice to say, by having two a day (an extra 2000 calories) I was able to gain 4lbs of muscle in one week with no change in bodyfat. That's gotta be a record.

Several recipes after a drought

I'm woefully behind on posting recipes and workouts. What can I say - finance exam über alles...

I'm actually going to list several recipes at once here to help me catch up. Ah, and, incidentally, I've lost 8 lbs now in the 5 weeks since I adopted this diet. At the same time my strength has dramatically increased...all around a win.

Here's one of my "crap it's 9 pm and I have no time to be creative" meals:

Rotini and Eggplant

• 1 eggplant, chopped
• mushrooms, chopped (optional)
• low sodium jar of marinara
• 5 oz whole wheat pasta, such as penne or rotini
  

Easy easy easy.

1. Saute eggplant in a bit of water til almost tender.
   
2. Add mushrooms and sauce. Cook til heated through, meanwhile cooking pasta according to package directions.
   
3. Serve with steamed greens and a big salad.

And another easy pasta dish:




Lentil Bolognese Spaghetti

Traditionally made with ground beef, the lentils are (naturally) much healthier

• 2 carrots, cut lengthwise then chopped thinly
• 3 celery stalks, cut lengthwise then chopped thinly
• 1/2 jar low sodium marinara
• 1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• 1 cup cooked lentils (brown, French, or black beluga)
  
• 5 oz whole wheat spaghetti

1. Saute carrots and celery in 2 Tbsp water for about 5 minutes
2. Add sauce and diced tomatoes.
3. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Add lentils and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Meanwhile cook pasta.
5. Serve with steamed greens and a big salad...seeing a pattern here?

Now, for the salad...it was a favorite of mine, made with a bag of "broccoli slaw" from Trader Joe's composed of shredded broccoli and carrots. I add diced Fuji apple and walnuts as well, and usually raspberry dressing. Alas, we were completely out of the dressing...So I said what the hell, why not make it myself:

Berry Dressing

• About 1 cup frozen raspberry/blueberry mix
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• cold water as needed

Blend all ingredients.





I have several more to post but I'll save those for tomorrow; stay tuned.