# What Superfoods did you eat today?



## heathpack (May 21, 2012)

There has been a lot of discussion on TUG lately about obesity and food/exercise.  I posted in the thread about airplane seating that I had lost weight myself last year, going from a BMI of 29 to 24 in about 9 months.  When I first started that process, there were a lot of negatives that came up- things one should no longer eat, the high failure rate of weight loss endeavors, how hard the process would be, how long it would take, etc- very discouraging, to say the least. Finally I decided to just ignore the negatives and make a list of the positives: 1.  Love fruit, 2.  Naturally athletic,  3.  Neighborhood/climate conducive to physical activity, 4.  Like to cook,  5.  Profession that makes daily use of biology, physiology & nutrition.  The positive spin was tremendously helpful to me, it was the starting point for success.

So in the spirit of positivity, how about a thread on the subject of delicious Superfoods?  At some point, I came across a website called the Worlds Healthiest Foods http://www.whfoods.com/. I'm sure this is not a *perfect* list of Superfoods but it's a pretty good starting point.

I'll start with my list of Superfoods on the menu today:
1. Raspberries on my breakfast cereal
2.  Strawberries and Greek yogurt
3.  Cherries- Coral variety, snappy and sweet
4.  Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, chicken breast with olive oil (and balsamic vinegar, but that's not a superfood).
5.  Fruit salad consisting of one grapefruit (Oroblanco, best grapefruit variety ever), one blood orange and blackberries.
6.  White tea (like green tea but less processed)
7.  Bok choy
8.  Shiitake mushrooms
9.  Soy sauce, ginger, garlic and green onion
10.  Brown rice
11.  Homemade apricot sorbet

Sure I will have eaten some things by the end of the day that are not on the Superfood list- coffee, hazelnut coffee creamer, sugar, cheddar cheese popcorn, commercially prepared Asian chicken meatballs, mirin, sesame oil, maybe a few butter cookies with the apricot sorbet, maybe a glass of wine with dinner.  But the point being, you can eat some pretty swell stuff that is packed with more nutrition than calories and wind up feeling more indulged than deprived.

So who ate what Superfoods today?

H


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## Ridewithme38 (May 21, 2012)

I had a meatball sub from Subway for lunch with a bag of chips , turkey breast for dinner with stuffing, but to be honest i ate mostly the skin, and am having vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet right now

Do any of those count as super foods? To be fair, they all tasted Super!

BTW: Congrats on your lose! Its not easy making the kinds of lifestyle changes that are needed for that type of improvement, it shows a very strong will and solid constitution that most people don't have!


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## MOXJO7282 (May 21, 2012)

I think I ate a few.

*Blueberries *,strawberries, and watermelon for breakfast.
Small piece of steak for lunch with a few cheese wedges and handful of mixed nuts.
Grilled chicken and a* romaine lettuce  *salad with fresh caesar dressing with a ton of *garlic*, some extra virgin *olive oil *and *anchovies* for dinner.

I also had a great workout with weigh training and an 1 hour bike ride so I had a good health day all around.


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## gomike (May 21, 2012)

filet mignon


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## Tia (May 21, 2012)

http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

broccoli
raspberries
onion
walnuts
water
ginger
blackberries ( not on list)

definitely noticed exercise doesn't drop off any pounds done 4x/wk these days


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## amycurl (May 21, 2012)

Dried cherries on cereal. Thai leftovers that included heaps of spices and bell peppers. Shittake mushrooms and spring onion in a low-fat risotto. Cod with fresh oregano, basil and lime. Grilled garlic scapes. Glazed hakeurei turnips and their greens. Rhurbarb and strawberries for dessert. Yummo all the way!


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## BevL (May 21, 2012)

Was it this list you're looking at?

http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

I only ask because the link took me to the home page and I found a link for this list there.  Sorry if I'm looking at the wrong thing.

Makes up for the yummy Thai Cashew Chicken I had from Wok Box and two glasses of wine and chocolate cake last night but here's what I had today from the list linked above:

Avocado
Red Bell Pepper
Carrots
Garlic
Onions
Spinach
Apple
Blueberries
Yogurt
Eggs
Kidney Beans
Tofu
Cinnamon
Cumin
Almonds
Cashews.

Basically an omelette with egg whites - that counts, right? - with some spinach thrown in, peppers, mushrooms and onions on the inside with half an avocado on the side - could eat them like apples, they are my favourite food.  

Then made some chili with lots of veggies and Tofu - sorry to the chili purists.

And some yogurt and blueberries for "dessert" - love Greek yogurt - tied with avocados for my favourite food.

And some Almonds and Cashews for a snack.

And a 6.5 Km walk.

Trying to maintain the weight I've lost over the last 10 months and not finding it that tough.  Just shop the outside of the grocery store and have thrown out the 100 calorie packs of snack food and weight watcher frozen dinners that I lived on for I don't know how long.  Limit "starchy" carbs to two servings a day, try to watch the saturated type fats.  Oh yes and occasionally eat Thai Cashew chicken, drink wine and eat chocolate cake!!

And yes, I am bragging - LOL.  But darn it, I feel better than I have for 10 years!!


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## AwayWeGo (May 21, 2012)

*Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.*




heathpack said:


> What Superfoods did you eat today?


Today I chowed down on some *. . . *

dried cherries
flaxseed meal
rolled oats
Wheatena
frozen wild blueberries
non-fat soy milk
1 banana
strawberries
medjool dates
1 apple
1 navel orange
leftover quinoa with leftover spaghetti sauce
coffee (1/2 regular 1/2 decaf)
a leftover hamburger on onion roll (with onion & catsup)
some leftover potato salad with egg
some leftover deviled eggs
iced tea with lemon juice & cranberry juice cocktail & aspartame​
Yum. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## pjrose (May 21, 2012)

I love the positive approach. I'll try it!

Not sure which are superfoods, but this is my list for today so far:


Steel-cut Oats made in the crockpot with raisins, apples, and cinnamon
a little packet of weight watchers rosemary/olive oil crackers
roast turkey breast (ok, it was a marinated vacuum packed processed thing, so probably had too many chemicals and too much sodium)
mashed potatoes (prepacked....uh oh, seeing a pattern emerging already
topped with instant gravy....uh oh.
salad with romaine and tomatoes and a spray of balsamic dressing.  Wanted avocado, but we were out. 
brussels sprouts with just a touch of margarine
carrots ditto
white wine - a few glasses  
chocolate pudding - prepackaged sugar-free
later on I'll grab a banana, some fresh strawberries, and probably more oatmeal
IF we had any, I'd snarf some light ice cream, but DH is trying to keep me from the grocery store by reminding me that I didn't like the photos taken of me at DS's graduation yesterday (he's right).

BevL - we lived in Hawaii when I was in 2nd and 3rd grades, and had our own avocado trees!  I'd pick them and eat them all the time - usually with a bit of salt and lemon, but sometimes with ketchup  - I was only 7-8 years old!  
I love "A" veggies/fruits - artichokes, asparagus, and avocados.


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## chriskre (May 21, 2012)

Funny you bring this up cause today I am starting the Reboot from the movie sick fat and nearly dead.  It's about losing weight and getting healthy with micronutrients by using juicing.   
I've also been watching alot of videos on youtube by Dr. Fuhrman.  Very interesting.  
http://www.jointhereboot.com/index.php?lang=en

So today I made green juice with Kale, cucumbers, Celery, Swiss chard, carrots, apples, lemons and ginger.  I also made a soup with Kale Swiss chard, celery, coconut milk carrots and zucchini.  

I'm amazed at how many veggies go in the juicer.   This is going to cost me a fortune but hopefully will pay off big in the end.


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## klpca (May 22, 2012)

Well I admire you all and I'm only posting this to make you feel better, haha.

Breakfast: one of those crunchy granola bars (the ones that leave crumbs everywhere) plus a cup of unsweetened, no dairy chai tea.

Lunch: fabulous homemade bean tostada, beans, lettuce, tomato and a bit of cheese. I'm sure the beans were made with lard, but what is there, 3 tablespoons of beans on that tortilla? I also had some homemade Mexican rice. I was bad and had a fully sugared coke. 

Mid afternoon snack: probably 20 cheese it's. Why do I eat those? They taste terrible!

Dinner: Costco rotisserie chicken, rice, steamed asparagus with butter(now that was yummy!)

No dessert. No other beverages besides water. 

It looks like I didn't eat anything super today. Oh well.

I am average weight, have low cholesterol, low blood pressure, and except (except!) for my rheumatoid arthritis I am in great health. I've always been all about portion control, balanced diet, not too much of anything. I love veggies but am not big on fruit. Looking at the list of super foods, tomorrow looks good as the rest of the chicken is going into a Chinese chicken salad. I'm making homemade stock in the crockpot as we speak - feeling quite thrifty. For me, maintaining my weight is all about portion control and controlling my liquid calories - sodas and alcoholic beverages sneak up on me and before I know it have attached themselves to my back end.

Congrats to all of you healthy eaters. It's a lot of work to get all of that in your diet!


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## lvhmbh (May 22, 2012)

Have to tell you - the Florida Cantaloupes are absolutely wonderful right now!!!  As for me - cantaloupe, cherries, grapes, blueberries.


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## Janette (May 22, 2012)

Cherrios with skim milk and chia seeds for breakfast. Lunch was chicken salad with walnuts, cranraisins, celery and a small amount of light mayo,raw broccoli and a half deviled egg. Dinner was whole wheat spaghetti and salad with blueberries and strawberries. I worked out in the pool for an hour in the morning and went for a three mile walk after dinner. We are on vacation but this is pretty much my life style since we are retired. We spend most vacations in timeshares eating in the unit for most of our meals. I fill better if I eat food that we prepare.


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## Whirl (May 22, 2012)

yesterday...
--herbed grilled salmon salad with roasted  asparagus and  balsamic vinaigrette

-- green tea, black coffee ( I dont usually use sugar, but chose not to add milk/cream)

pumpkin seeds, goji berries and and apple for dinner. (worked late and ran to a meeting, so that is what I had in my office. )
today -- guess what, back at the office...nothing but  pumpkin seeds and goji berries again, which I put in some instant unsweetened multigrain/oatmeal cereal

-- a pretty healthy couple days...so far


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## rhonda (May 22, 2012)

Yesterday (5/21)?  

Breakfast drink made of freshly juiced:  strawberry, carrot, apple, orange and red grape.

Mid-morning drink of freshly juiced:  red cabbage, chard, apple, celery, brussels sprouts and ginger.

Tea: Chinese Pu-erh (detox)

Office snacks:  broccoli, celery, tomato, red bell pepper, apple, walnuts; later a handful of a granola mix of almonds and dried fruits

Dinner:  Cob salad at a restaurant ... not the best choice but it was very yummy!  From the Superfood list, it held only two items:  avocado & tomato.


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## Rose Pink (May 22, 2012)

I'm finding it difficult to eat well while vacationing.  Everyone wants to eat out, etc.  At home I am not responsible for anyone else and can eat what and when I want.

However I've been having chia seeds soaked in unsweetened almond milk with a sliced banana for sweetness.  Of course, yesterday my 19 month old grandson sat next to me and ate my banana.  We went to Multnomah Falls for lunch where I had a Morrocan vegetable stew.  It was way too spicy hot for my taste but the squash portion was really good and I ate that.  Unfortunately, I also ate the pita bread and some tator tots (the hot dogs of the veggie world). Then we got supper from Arby's.  I had a chicken salad sandwich.  I hate to think how that chicken was farmed and what chemicals were in it.

Today I will start with the chia seed breakfast again but I know we are going out for lunch.  My DIL is craving fish tacos.


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## AwayWeGo (May 22, 2012)

*I Resemble That Remark.*




Rose Pink said:


> I'm finding it difficult to eat well while vacationing.  Everyone wants to eat out, etc.


Same here, & I am OK with that. 

Pigging out on vacation is part of the fun, I've decided. 

It's back to roots & twigs & seeds & leaves & berries when we get home. 

So it goes. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## rhonda (May 22, 2012)

5/22 from the Superfood list ...

Morning Drink, Freshly juiced: Cabbage (Red), Romaine Lettuce, Carrots & Lime


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## BevL (May 22, 2012)

Oh, vacations are a totally different thing.  Timesharing helps because we're not eating out every meal.

But that's okay, vacation is a change from your normal routine.  That includes sleeping in, reading a good book in the middle of the day, watching THe Price is Right if we happen to still be at "home," and eating and drinking more/differently than I do at home.  

The part I find hard when I'm on vacation is getting my butt out the door for my walk.  You'd think that with the extra spare time I have it should be easier but I'm very, VERY lazy on vacation.


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## Rose Pink (May 22, 2012)

So, the chia seed and banana breakfast did not happen as planned.  When I went down to make it I found my son had brought home VooDoo donuts.  So, I had s chunk of an apple fritter and a chunk of the Memphis Mafia fritter.  No I did not even eat half of one of those dinner plate sized pastries.  Washed them down with skim milk.  Then added a multivitamin and a fish oil supplement.


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## Blues (May 22, 2012)

One thing I don't see referenced very often is black rice, aka forbidden rice or purple rice.  All the benefits of brown rice, plus more anti-oxidants (in the form of anthocyanins) than blueberries.  Plus, such a low glycemic index that it's recommended for diabetics.  It has a wonderful nutty taste, and DW and I love it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20014879-10391704.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100826093202.htm


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## Elan (May 22, 2012)

Rose Pink said:


> So, the chia seed and banana breakfast did not happen as planned.  When I went down to make it I found my son had brought home VooDoo donuts.  So, I had s chunk of an apple fritter and a chunk of the Memphis Mafia fritter.  No I did not even eat half of one of those dinner plate sized pastries.  Washed them down with skim milk.  Then added a multivitamin and a fish oil supplement.



  Don't be so hard on yourself.  Still beats bacon washed down with beer.  (Although if those two items _aren't_ superfoods, then the term is meaningless!).


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## heathpack (May 22, 2012)

*Apricot Sorbet...*

... came out tasty.  Quarter and pit 8 large apricots and simmer until soft, about 15 minutes, in 1/2 cup water plus 1/2 cup sugar.  Puree in blender, add 2 T lemon juice, the juice of 1 orange, 2T amaretto, and more sugar to taste (I added 1/2 cup more).  Chill until cold, preferably overnight.  Freeze in ice cream maker.  Makes about 1 quart.

This would be beautiful served with blackberries and maybe some chopped toasted almonds.  We ate it plain last night with some almond butter thins (cookies, not made from almond butter, but made from almonds and butter).

Whats "super" about apricots?  Vitamin A, Vitamin C, carotenoids, fiber and potassium.  Eat something delicious, protect your eyesight, and help prevent cancer.

H


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## pjrose (May 22, 2012)

Overnight my wee-hours binge consisted of:

toasted cheese on rye (low fat American fake cheese)
two quaker oatmeal raisin granola bars
two low fat string cheese sticks
bowl of steel cut oats
slices of turkey leftover from dinner
two sliced bananas with not too much chocolate syrup.
finally fell asleep around 5-6AM, woke around noon, tired and groggy. 
     


Doing better today.....

brunch = steel cut oats
snack = 3/4 of an avocado
dinner = leftover stir fried beef/broccoli/onions/garlic/carrots (homemade, little beef and very little oil) 
over quinoa
leftover Brussels sprouts

The pattern is pretty clear.....don't eat much during the day, and ravenous from midnight to 3-4AM.  I've got to reprogram my wake/sleep/eat cycles, I just don't know how!


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## Rose Pink (May 22, 2012)

Can you get some serious sleep meds to knock you out for about six hours?  Take at bedtime for several days to establish a sleep pattern?  I don't usually recommend drugs but maybe they would help start you on a new sleep regimen in combination with other good sleep hygiene protocols such as a set bed time and set bedtime routine.

Also, have you been checked for gastritis or ulcers or H. pylori?  Your intense hunger may actually be something else.  Next time try some Tums or other antacid to see if it helps with the hunger.


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## laurac260 (May 22, 2012)

Today I ate farm fresh scrambled eggs (fried on coconut oil) with organic spinach for breakfast, along with full fat, organic yogurt and organic blueberries.

For lunch I had broccoli with cheddar cheese (all organic), and quinoa with lemon zest, olive oil and pine nuts.  

For dinner I had salmon with mango salsa, sautéed broccoli and zucchini, and a salad with spinach and kale and red peppers, seasoned with a home made dressing of garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

For a late snack I had a mix of flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, dried bananas, raisins, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and cacao. 

All organic except for the salmon.   

It's called the maximized living diet.  I did make an iced coffee early in the day for some sugar, as I am almost done with refined sugar, but not quite yet.


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## easyrider (May 22, 2012)

Im having a Crown and DIET Coke.


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## Ridewithme38 (May 22, 2012)

laurac260 said:


> Today I ate farm fresh scrambled eggs (fried on coconut oil) with organic spinach for breakfast, along with full fat, organic yogurt and organic blueberries.
> 
> For lunch I had broccoli with cheddar cheese (all organic), and quinoa with lemon zest, olive oil and pine nuts.
> 
> ...



Wow, i want to eat over your house! I don't know how you did it, but your 'health' food sounds tasty....I've never thought of making scrambled eggs in any type of oil...I may wake up early tomorrow and actually eat breakfast tomorrow


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## gnorth16 (May 22, 2012)

I ate nachos for supper...  for some reason I don't feel very well right now.


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## pjrose (May 22, 2012)

Rose Pink said:


> Can you get some serious sleep meds to knock you out for about six hours?  Take at bedtime for several days to establish a sleep pattern?  I don't usually recommend drugs but maybe they would help start you on a new sleep regimen in combination with other good sleep hygiene protocols such as a set bed time and set bedtime routine.
> 
> Also, have you been checked for gastritis or ulcers or H. pylori?  Your intense hunger may actually be something else.  Next time try some Tums or other antacid to see if it helps with the hunger.



Yes, over the years I have been prescribed trazadone, ambien, lunesta, and rozeram.  None works well; hours of tossing and turning, then weird groggy spacey the next say.  Rozeram leads to night eating that I don't even remember till I find the evidence.  At present I take Benadryl...It helps somewhat.  
And tums helps a bit if I want a little something but stay upstairs.  I haven't been checked for anything else, but did have a sleep study and they didn't find anything wrong.  

I think a week of serious sleep meds to get me into a decent cycle would help too.  I do like healthy food.... lack of judgment when I am half asleep is my downfall.


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## ricoba (May 22, 2012)

Take a look at Penn & Tellers episode of B*llsh** about organic foods to have another take on super foods and organic foods. (youtube link)

BTW the language is a bit coarse...


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## gnorth16 (May 22, 2012)

Every try melatonin? 

works for me, all natural.  There is also some natural sprays at Bath and Body Works that you can spray on your pillow or rub on your temples ...

When those don't work muscle relaxants work okay,but they make me groggy.

Not the regular routine of prescription meds, but I found after a while, they didn't work for me either.


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## Elan (May 23, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Yes, over the years I have been prescribed trazadone, ambien, lunesta, and rozeram.  None works well; hours of tossing and turning, then weird groggy spacey the next say.  Rozeram leads to night eating that I don't even remember till I find the evidence.  At present I take Benadryl...It helps somewhat.
> And tums helps a bit if I want a little something but stay upstairs.  I haven't been checked for anything else, but did have a sleep study and they didn't find anything wrong.
> 
> I think a week of serious sleep meds to get me into a decent cycle would help too.  I do like healthy food.... lack of judgment when I am half asleep is my downfall.



  How active are you?  When I get in the "poor sleep" mode the best cure is to exercise to exhaustion.  A 25 mile bike ride, or a couple hours of tennis usually works.  It's a great way to break the cycle.


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## BevL (May 23, 2012)

Elan said:


> How active are you?  When I get in the "poor sleep" mode the best cure is to exercise to exhaustion.  A 25 mile bike ride, or a couple hours of tennis usually works.  It's a great way to break the cycle.



This is definitely worth a try.  Not even exercise to exhaustion, just a good 30 to 45 minutes of a brisk walk works wonders for how I sleep.  I can miss for a day, but if I miss for two, I definitely notice I'm tossing and turning.  I have a very sedentary job so while my brain might be tired, my body is not.  The night hot flashes seem to be a little more manageable as well with a regular walk.  

Definitely helps mentally and emotionally too when I carve out the time to gift to myself, and can take time to be somewhat introspective, just sort out what's going on and have those internal conversations that help you face what's going on in your life.

Whatever it takes, I really do hope you make yourself a priority to try to get it sorted out.  Just sounds like a bad combination, not sleeping and eating kind of randomly in the middle of the night.


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## pjrose (May 23, 2012)

gnorth16 said:


> Every try melatonin?
> . . .



yes, it did nothing



Elan said:


> How active are you?  . . .



not.  Exercise = shopping and cleaning house.  Used to do Kenpo Karate and would love to get back, but every time I go for just a night or for a seminar, my knee is in terrible shape for the next week    I'm a lap swimmer and would love to get back into that.....don't like the grubbiness of the pool/deck/locker-room at places like the Y.  



BevL said:


> This is definitely worth a try.  Not even exercise to exhaustion, just a good 30 to 45 minutes of a brisk walk works wonders for how I sleep.  . . . .



I know it's supposed to help.  My excuse is a bad knee; it really does hurt when I do more walking than a circuit around the grocery store.  Last night I slept all night - a pretty rare event.  We were out of ice cream so without my sugar fix maybe I didn't get that sugar high and wake up for more (?). 

Back to good food.......
DS got a lot of veggies at the grocery store yesterday, so today I'll be eating some strawberries, asparagus and broccoli with whatever we have for dinner tonight, definitely some avocado and tomato, and we'll see from there


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## glypnirsgirl (May 23, 2012)

I like focusing on the positive - thanks for the thread, Heathpack.

Today, I ate
parsley, onions, lemon, garlic and olive oil (tabbouleh);
eggplant with more garlic and olive oil (babba ganouj) 
and a whole wheat pita.

Now I am brewing some green tea that I bought while we were in China. It smells like spinach so I know it must be good for me.  

elaine


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## pjrose (May 24, 2012)

Yesterday

steel-cut oats
weight watchers olive oil / rosemary crackers

fish (cod, sautéed in a little olive oil)
asparagus
corn on the cob
romaine, tomato, avocado salad

string cheese (light)
banana
Lean Cuisine spinach/artichoke dip/pita
whole wheat toast w/ sugar-free orange marmalade 
ice cream  

Any superfoods in there?  1/4 avocado, and olive oil, right?  how about the steel-cut oats?  fish and asparagus?


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## BevL (May 24, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Yesterday
> 
> steel-cut oats
> weight watchers olive oil / rosemary crackers
> ...



BUt inquiring minds want to know.  Was the ice cream a midnight raid?

Hopefully concerted efforts are paying off and you're more or less staying put between the covers - LOL.  Good luck.

Bev


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## heathpack (May 24, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Yesterday
> 
> steel-cut oats
> weight watchers olive oil / rosemary crackers
> ...



Oats
Cod
Asparagus
Corn
Romaine
Tomato
Avocado
LowFat cheese
Banana

H


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## heathpack (May 24, 2012)

*Romaine Lettuce- Nutritional Powerhouse*

Nutritionally speaking, Romaine is the king of lettuces.  Every work day, I eat an enormous salad with 5 oz Romaine lettuce.  Once a week, we wash and prep a weeks worth of lettuce, which is 4 heads of Romaine for me personally.  Our kitchen looks like we are feeding a manatee.

It turns out 5 ounces of Romaine lettuce contains 200% of the RDA of Vitamin A, 180% Vitamin K and 50% Vitamin C.  But even better, almost 50% of the RDA for folate, which is a nutrient that is a little harder to come by.

Whats great about folate?  Its essential for the conversion of homocysteine into benign substances.  Excess homocysteine is believed to play a role in the development of heart disease.

Thats a ton of nutrition for a total of 25 calories.  Romaine has got to be one of the best nutritional deals going.

H


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## easyrider (May 24, 2012)

Drink beer.. Beer is good for you. Here is some info on beer. 


http://www.aim-digest.com/gateway/pages/general/articles/goodnews.htm

"Is beer a boon to old people? Beer improves appetite, promotes secretion of gastric juice, aids digestion and may reduce the risk of stomach ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. Regular drinkers of beer (and wine) seem to be less prone to developing dementia. At bedtime beer is cherished as a mild sedative. Moderate beer consumption is likely to reduce the risk of maturity-onset diabetes and a recent investigation has shown a reduced risk of heart failure in light drinkers. The result of a moderate intake of beer for a group of elderly Australian beer drinkers was a 7.6 months increase in survival."


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## Ridewithme38 (May 24, 2012)

easyrider said:


> Drink beer.. Beer is good for you. Here is some info on beer.
> 
> 
> http://www.aim-digest.com/gateway/pages/general/articles/goodnews.htm
> ...



The trick with Beer is, you should brew your own, or atleast Buy MicroBrewed Beers....Alot of what is good about beer is filtered and killed by the large companies before they sell it commercially, even more dies on the shelves...


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## rhonda (May 24, 2012)

5/24 so far ...

Spinach, Kale, Chard, Corn, Apple, Almonds, Carrots, ginger, sweet potato and honey.


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## laurac260 (May 24, 2012)

heathpack said:


> Nutritionally speaking, Romaine is the king of lettuces.  Every work day, I eat an enormous salad with 5 oz Romaine lettuce.  Once a week, we wash and prep a weeks worth of lettuce, which is 4 heads of Romaine for me personally.  Our kitchen looks like we are feeding a manatee.
> 
> It turns out 5 ounces of Romaine lettuce contains 200% of the RDA of Vitamin A, 180% Vitamin K and 50% Vitamin C.  But even better, almost 50% of the RDA for folate, which is a nutrient that is a little harder to come by.
> 
> ...



Kale is a better source of nutrition than Romaine, though Romaine is good.


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## heathpack (May 24, 2012)

laurac260 said:


> Kale is a better source of nutrition than Romaine, though Romaine is good.



I find that I am better off eating healthy things that I really like (romaine), rather than trying to eat healthy things I don't really like (kale).  When I plan to eat a healthy thing that I don't like, somehow I wind up eating jelly beans instead.

You can always probably find something healthier than the thing you ate.  The trick I think is to find the biggest list of superfoods that you actually will realistically eat on a regular basis.

H


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## amycurl (May 24, 2012)

Heath--I'm drowning in lettuce from my CSA! You should come over for salad! I've got spotted trout, romaine (you haven't had romaine until you've had romaine fresh from the farm,) baby lettuce greens, and finger lettuce. There was also some red leaf lettuce in one of the unclaimed boxes (my house is a drop site.) I've also got the largest head of cabbage I've ever seen in my whole life. I took off a few of the outer leaves, and tried to convince my DH to stand over me, using them as fans. 

I had turnips, zucchini, garlic, olive oil, pomergrante juice and red raspberries today. Today, while not quite as good as Monday, was a heck of a lot better than Tuesday and Wednesday.

It's sad how much my variable schedule dictates what I eat.


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## pjrose (May 24, 2012)

Yay Heath, thanks for identifying my superfoods!  I'm a huge romaine fan, also love spinach.  Hate kale, though.   

ok, today.....


puffed rice w/ nonfat milk

sushi (calif roll), pickled ginger

Indian restaurant take-out: lamb saag, chicken korma, rice (basmati??)
cooked carrots 
a few Tbs lite sour cream (out of yogurt and the chutney in the refrig looked weird  )

coming up later:
banana
lite choc ice cream


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## BevL (May 24, 2012)

Definitely agree with eating what you like.  I have finally given up buying broccoli.  The only way I really enjoy it is in a "salad" with raisins, bacon, red onion and a mayonaise based dressing.  I think I could leave out the broccoli and just eat everything else!!

I'll eat it if it's served to me in a restaurant or at a friend's house but was tired of chucking it out after a week in the fridge.

All these food threads make me hungry.  Just finished dinner of some steamed salmon, sauteed mushrooms, garlic and spinach and oven roasted cauliflower.  Slice up an apple later for a snack and I'll be very full.


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## Ridewithme38 (May 24, 2012)

I just ordered Dominos and Cheesy bread...is either of those things a super food?


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## momeason (May 24, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Yes, over the years I have been prescribed trazadone, ambien, lunesta, and rozeram.  None works well; hours of tossing and turning, then weird groggy spacey the next say.  Rozeram leads to night eating that I don't even remember till I find the evidence.  At present I take Benadryl...It helps somewhat.
> And tums helps a bit if I want a little something but stay upstairs.  I haven't been checked for anything else, but did have a sleep study and they didn't find anything wrong.
> 
> I think a week of serious sleep meds to get me into a decent cycle would help too.  I do like healthy food.... lack of judgment when I am half asleep is my downfall.



None of those meds you have tried work for me either. Temazepam (generic for Restoril) usually helps me. My doctor prescribed it every night for 1-2 weeks and then as needed as a new sleepless cycle starts.


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## heathpack (May 25, 2012)

amycurl said:


> Heath--(you haven't had romaine until you've had romaine fresh from the farm,)
> 
> ...Pomegranate juice...



We are not CSA people but this is So Cal, where the farmers market produce knocks my socks off year-round.  We do buy a few produce items in the grocery store- bananas, sometimes a pineapple- but pretty much everything else is grown locally and picked shortly before purchase.  It makes it easy to eat well.

When we bought our house a few years ago, we knew there was a pretty small shrubby tree with orange flowers in the back yard.  What we did not realize is the tree is a pomegranate tree which produces enormous soft-ball sized pomegranates.  That first year, I ate every pomegranate I could manage, made pomegranate jelly and grenadine, gave pomegranates to anyone who wanted one.  And then took TEN grocery bags of them to the food pantry.  I think the easiest most lucrative job in the world must be being a pomegranate farmer.

H


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## laurac260 (May 25, 2012)

heathpack said:


> I find that I am better off eating healthy things that I really like (romaine), rather than trying to eat healthy things I don't really like (kale).  When I plan to eat a healthy thing that I don't like, somehow I wind up eating jelly beans instead.
> 
> You can always probably find something healthier than the thing you ate.  The trick I think is to find the biggest list of superfoods that you actually will realistically eat on a regular basis.
> 
> H



I agree.  Kale can be good though.  I make a very simple salad with it. Kale and spinach, with red peppers, mushroom and tomatoes, and I make my own dressing.  It is simply, olive oil and balsamic vinegar with fresh garlic.  Simple, tasty, healthy.


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## amycurl (May 25, 2012)

heathpack said:


> When we bought our house a few years ago, we knew there was a pretty small shrubby tree with orange flowers in the back yard.  What we did not realize is the tree is a pomegranate tree which produces enormous soft-ball sized pomegranates.  That first year, I ate every pomegranate I could manage, made pomegranate jelly and grenadine, gave pomegranates to anyone who wanted one.  And then took TEN grocery bags of them to the food pantry.  I think the easiest most lucrative job in the world must be being a pomegranate farmer.
> 
> H


 Sounds great! That's what I would love best about SoCal--fruit trees in the back yard. My friend who lives in Pasadena was just here last weekend, and they have three of them in their backyard. (This is all part of her campaign for us to come visit her!) But she raves about our Farmer's Market, and the summer squash she got to make curry with (she is of Kashmiri descent.) I would have thought what she could get locally would be of equal quality--as you testify--but she was very clear that it was some of the best she'd ever had.

Today--orange smoothie, zucchini and squash soup (this is an incredibly easy and yummy recipe, if anyone is interested,) poached egg, and currently waiting for homemade chicken stock to cool so I can make chicken noodle soup. (Not sure if soup will be for today or tomorrow.)

The best news is that the pool opens tomorrow! I find it so much easier to get my 20-30 minutes of exercise a day in the pool...usually much more.


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## BevL (May 25, 2012)

Today is my 20 percent day.  I try to do "good" 80 percent of the time or more, but have been working like crazy this week and am just too lazy to make anything that's good for me.  So it's 4:12 in the PM and I've just poured a glass of wine and am thinking about what might be tasty tonight.  So other than eggs and some veg in a breakfast burrito this morning - no, I didn't make it myself, it was drive through after an appointment - and some almonds mid afternoon, no superfoods for me today.

But will cook some steel cut rolled oats and put them in the fridge so I have something good tomorrow morning.

Just on the topic of farmer's markets and such, we are so lucky where we live.  We don't have fruit like SoCal or FL, but we do have a lot of berries in the early summer.  We live not far from the Okanagan so we have apples, pears, cherries, peaches, apricots that one can order that were picked in the morning and delivered to the produce place three hours later.  And the fresh veg are just barely coming into season.  Corn will be late in the summer and while it's not a superfood - I don't think - we definitely have at least two or three meals of ... just corn, butter and salt.

We will be taking our annual wine tasting trip in September and always bring back a couple of cases of apples.  They are like candy.

Okay, now maybe I've talked myself into eating something not quite so bad - LOL!


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## pjrose (May 25, 2012)

amycurl said:


> . . .  zucchini and squash soup (this is an incredibly easy and yummy recipe, if anyone is interested,) . . . .



Yes please!

Good stuff so far today:


steel cut oats (every morning, thanks to TUG and the discussion of the CHIP Diet!)
1/2 avocado
3 oz lean sirloin 
quinoa
strawberries
banana

and some not-so-good stuff as well.... chicken nuggets, chocolate ice cream.....


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## Rose Pink (May 25, 2012)

I had some freshly picked strawberries from my garden.  

However, I am pigging out on acrylamide chips while watching television.


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## heathpack (May 25, 2012)

Oatmeal with almond butter, honey and strawberries

Popcorn from home & cherries at the matinee movie

Grass-fed beef burger with homemade carmelized onion jam, big salad

Apricot sorbet

Non Superfoods: coffee, a beer, hamburger bun, pickles and ketchup


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## amycurl (May 26, 2012)

Homemade caramelized onion jam sounds good. 

PJ, here's the recipe (I'd PM it, but I think you said in other threads that your box is fill....) This is the only recipe I make that uses Velveeta. If you feel like Velveeta is an abomination, there are some alternatives that will work. This is a great recipe to use during the height of summer, when you've got summer squashes coming out your ears.  Also, after all these years, I don't measure anything (it's a very forgiving recipe that way!) With all that said:

-One large or two regular sized zucchini and/or yellow squash, chopped into one-inch or so chunks. 
-One to one-and-a-half good sized onion, also chunked (a red onion will give it a deeper flavor)
-2-3 garlic cloves, no need to cut--can add more if you love garlic!
-1-2 Tbsp. of olive oil.

Dump the above into whatever sized saucepan will hold it. Add some water--maybe an inch or two. (No need for water to cover all ingredients--certainly no more than half-way to top of ingredients!) Pour in olive oil. Cover, bring to boil. Once it boils, immediately lower to med-low heat and let simmer, covered, for 10-20 minutes until squash and onion are soft.

While the squash is simmering, add the following ingredients to a blender or food processor:

--two good sized handfuls of fresh basil leaves (works best, but you can sub 2 Tbsps of dried)
-1 tsp. parsley (dried or fresh). (Dried carrot tops also work)
-1-2 Tbsps. of soy sauce (low-sodium works best)
-freshly ground pepper to taste
-3-4 oz. of cheese, roughly chunked. I usually use the 2% Velveeta, but I've also used a soft guoda, and a plain goat cheese chevre log also works. The point is that the cheese needs to have a mild flavor that is soft and melts easily. You can play with different cheeses in different amounts to see what works best for you.
-Dash of garlic powder or dried onion, esp. if you didn't have as much fresh of either one

When the squash is done, pour over ingredients in blender and blend on high until smooth. Serve hot Makes plenty depending on how much squash you started with. If you've got more squash than will fit in the blender, you can either re-load blender with the cheese and spices, and make more, or, you can take the remainder squash and store it. I usually pop the cooked squash and onion in the freezer. When you're ready to make more, just defrost in the microwave and blend with cheese/spices. By the end of summer, I usually have a couple of containers of the cooked squash in the freezer, which I use in the middle of Dec/Jan when I need bit of summer in my diet!

Feel free to PM if you have any questions, and I apologize to everyone else for having to read this if you hate squash! :ignore:


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## Jaybee (May 26, 2012)

I love this thread!  I've been drinking green smoothies since the first of the year, and they've changed my thinking about a lot of things.  On a daily basis I drink foods I never thought would cross my lips...things such as Kale, Bok Choy, Turnip greens, beet greens, plus things I loved before...Romaine, fruits & berries, and I add flax powder (from seeds ground in my coffee mill), hemp seeds, and the magical Chia seeds.

I haven't eaten much meat, other than ground turkey, & a little ground beef (with no green slime) LOL!  

I wasn't looking to lose weight, but I did lose the extra 10 lbs. I'd been carrying around for too long, plus some more. I found I slept better, had more energy, and I'm not plagued with muscle cramps like I was before.

I eat lots of legumes, quinoa, beets, & other veggies. I love the greens in soups, too.  Who knew?  

I haven't had much luck with the sugar, though. The Oreos seem to replenish themselves.   I do enjoy greek yogurt, too, but did you ever really look to see how much more sugar the low-fat & fat-free products have, than the regular ones?

I haven't felt deprived, and I do sometimes eat "bad stuff", but I believe what Dr. Joel Fuhrman says..If you eat more high nutrition foods that empty calories, you'll lose weight. I love it when I'm shopping, like the other day, when a very confused young man gazing at the greens in the produce dept. asked me, "Do you know what Kale looks like?" I said, "Yes, but they don't have any."   

I just know that I feel worlds better, and don't have the "arthritic" shoulder pain that I used to have Cortisone shots for.

Oh, and I've also stopped taking calcium supplements, fosamax, and various others. 

Some books that have helped me are:  "Green for Life", by Victoria Boutenko, "Eat to Live", by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and "Green Smoothies Diet", by Robyn Openshaw.  Robyn's website, www.greensmoothiegirl.com is a great one.


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## BevL (May 26, 2012)

The greek yogurt I eat, fat free, has no ADDED sugar.  There is sugar listed in the nutritional breakdown but it just has skim milk and "culture."  

But some of the fat free or low fat fruit flavoured yogurts have a lot of added sugar in them.  

I just add my own berries.


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## heathpack (May 26, 2012)

BevL said:


> The greek yogurt I eat, fat free, has no ADDED sugar.  There is sugar listed in the nutritional breakdown but it just has skim milk and "culture."
> 
> But some of the fat free or low fat fruit flavoured yogurts have a lot of added sugar in them.
> 
> I just add my own berries.



Ditto.  My concoction is 1 1/2 pints ripe strawberries macerated with 1 tablespoon sugar.  Mix strawberries with 1 quart yogurt.  Makes around 5 or 6 eight oz portions.  I usually top with more berries plus about 1T kashi go lean crunch cereal.

Fage Plain nonfat Greek yogurt 9 gm sugar/cup
One medium orange 12 gm sugar.

H


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## heathpack (May 26, 2012)

Breakfast: strawberry Greek yogurt topped with strawberries and blackberries

Lunch: homemade fried rice made with leftover brown rice, leftover chicken breast, almonds, onion, peas, carrots, ginger, chives and soy sauce.  The last of the apricot sorbet for dessert.

Flying to New Orleans on business this evening.  Have packed a romaine salad with chicken breast meat, a chopped blood orange, blackberries and a handful of almonds.  Will dress with extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

Non-Superfoods:  coffee, black tea, canola oil for the fried rice, Lean Cuisine Thai spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, a few sour cream and onion rice cakes, and, since I am flying Delta, probably a packet of Biscoff cookies.

The next four days will be an absolute grind- administering and then grading a major exam.  Superfoods may be hard to come by.  The gym will be my BBF.

H


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## pjrose (May 26, 2012)

heathpack said:


> . . .
> Flying to New Orleans on business this evening.  . . .  Will dress with extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar.
> 
> . . .



Do you really think they'll let you on the plane


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## gnorth16 (May 26, 2012)

Heath,

Time to quit your job and be my personal chef!  The pay is not very good, but you would get to come and live in Canada... 

I'm jealous of those that can get quality fresh produce year round.  In the summer, local produce is good but expensive , and from October to May it is sparse (a few local greenhouses - and mostly the hardy vegetables).  When we travel in the US, we are amazed at the variety and quality of produce both in the stores and at produce stands.

When we used to live in Newfoundland, the produce truck came on Fridays and there would be a line up to get grapes at the store.    To boot, for any quality meat, we would have to order and ship it from St. John's or get it from Costco when we were in the City.


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## Jaybee (May 26, 2012)

I love the sound of your concoction of the strawberries & yogurt.  I sometimes get the small containers of vanilla, and add a packet of True Lime. It tastes much like Key Lime. 






heathpack said:


> Ditto.  My concoction is 1 1/2 pints ripe strawberries macerated with 1 tablespoon sugar.  Mix strawberries with 1 quart yogurt.  Makes around 5 or 6 eight oz portions.  I usually top with more berries plus about 1T kashi go lean crunch cereal.
> 
> Fage Plain nonfat Greek yogurt 9 gm sugar/cup
> One medium orange 12 gm sugar.
> ...


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## Rose Pink (May 26, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Do you really think they'll let you on the plane


 
:hysterical: :hysterical: Good one, PJ!


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## MuranoJo (May 27, 2012)

heathpack said:


> Non-Superfoods:  coffee, black tea, *canola oil *for the fried rice, Lean Cuisine Thai spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, a few sour cream and onion rice cakes, and, since I am flying Delta, probably a packet of Biscoff cookies.
> 
> H


Heathpack,
I applaud all you're doing (both diet and exercise)--you are an inspiration.

But I did notice you included canola oil as a non-superfood, while I had heard for some time it is a 'good' fat, similar to olive oil.  And, of course, we do need fats in our diet.  So I dug around a bit and found this article.   

I guess my question is: How do we define a superfood?

Edited to add:  I did go back to your original post and found your link, where I also found this about olive and canola oils.  However, they are still claiming both olive and canola oils are very good, but not to be used at high heats.


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## heathpack (May 27, 2012)

Big bowl of superfoods delivered right to my room.  Room service rocks.

H


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## heathpack (May 27, 2012)

muranojo said:


> Heathpack,
> I applaud all you're doing (both diet and exercise)--you are an inspiration.
> 
> But I did notice you included canola oil as a non-superfood, while I had heard for some time it is a 'good' fat, similar to olive oil.  And, of course, we do need fats in our diet.  So I dug around a bit and found this article.
> ...



For the purposes of this thread, I am basically referring to Superfoods from the WH Food list, but I think there are plenty of other Superfoods out there.  Note that I rather willfully keep listing blackberries and cherries on my lists- they are not actually on the WH Food list.  But they are pretty darn healthy and tasty.

In our house we mostly eat olive oil, extra virgin, locally produced, cold pressed- but not for cooking.  I have always used canola for cooking, in part because it is cheap and it flavorless.  But it is not a good cooking option really, I have peanut oil in the house for that.  I should have used peanut oil for the fried rice- the stupid thing is that we don't keep it in the cabinet by the stove.  Funny how little things like that influence you.  Now I am going to make space for it over by the stove- see how this thread is improving my health already?

Personally I eat all kinds of food, on the WH list or not, and feel zero remorse about the less healthy items.  The only time I feel remorse is when I waste calories on something carelessly made, loaded with lethal amounts of fat, salt, sugar, that I could have made a tastier, healthier version of at home.  Pizza delivery is a great example, I will do it when necessary but usually regret it.  Nature allots us all a finite number of calories that we will spend each day, and my basic strategy is to get as much nutrition as I possibly can from each calorie.

Somebody posted some sort of congratulations somewhere about willpower.  Willpower has had zero to do with it.  It is more about knowledge- knowing what's good and not so good and why- and mathematics- understanding how many calories you have to spend and how many calories are in your choices.  If you naturally have a big appetite like I do, you will quickly learn that a little exercise improves your calorie budget a bit.  So I have never felt like I needed willpower- just knowledge and the focus to pay attention.  Everyone needs to figure it out for his/herself- if you play to your own strengths, you can't fail.

H


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## Jaybee (May 27, 2012)

heathpack said:


> Personally I eat all kinds of food, on the WH list or not, and feel zero remorse about the less healthy items.  The only time I feel remorse is when I waste calories on something carelessly made, loaded with lethal amounts of fat, salt, sugar, that I could have made a tastier, healthier version of at home.  Pizza delivery is a great example, I will do it when necessary but usually regret it.  Nature allots us all a finite number of calories that we will spend each day, and my basic strategy is to get as much nutrition as I possibly can from each calorie.
> 
> Somebody posted some sort of congratulations somewhere about willpower.  Willpower has had zero to do with it.  It is more about knowledge- knowing what's good and not so good and why- and mathematics- understanding how many calories you have to spend and how many calories are in your choices.  If you naturally have a big appetite like I do, you will quickly learn that a little exercise improves your calorie budget a bit.  So I have never felt like I needed willpower- just knowledge and the focus to pay attention.  Everyone needs to figure it out for his/herself- if you play to your own strengths, you can't fail.H



I feel the same way as you do about what I eat. Once I was aware of what I should do, it didn't take any will power. I am not good at depriving myself.  
I saw this article yesterday, and I thought it might influence someone, in a good way. I found it "Food for Thought".
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archive...r-party-in-cardiovascular-intensive-care.html


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## Rose Pink (May 27, 2012)

Knowledge may be all it takes for some people, and I applaud those people  .  However, for myself and many others it requires more than "when you know better, you do better."

Look at the doctors who still smoke, the nurses who abuse drugs, the dietitians who are fat.  We know better.  We teach good health practices all day long and then stop at the fast food place on the way home or drown our frustrations and fatigue in a pint or two of ice cream or alcohol.

To make a change in behavior we must find a motivation.  For some, knowledge is the motivator but it does not motivate most people.


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## Jaybee (May 27, 2012)

I found I really like green smoothies, and love my Blendtec blender. But when I found my sleep patterns and, my lab readings improving, my energy level going up, and my joint pains going away, it was very motivating for me to try even more changes.


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## heathpack (May 28, 2012)

Rose Pink said:


> Knowledge may be all it takes for some people, and I applaud those people  .  However, for myself and many others it requires more than "when you know better, you do better."
> 
> Look at the doctors who still smoke, the nurses who abuse drugs, the dietitians who are fat.  We know better.  We teach good health practices all day long and then stop at the fast food place on the way home or drown our frustrations and fatigue in a pint or two of ice cream or alcohol.
> 
> To make a change in behavior we must find a motivation.  For some, knowledge is the motivator but it does not motivate most people.



I think this is an excellent point- something that works for one person am absolutely not work for the next person.  Everyone has to find his/her way.  It's also true that thing that finally works for you may be some factor that's been there all along, but suddenly is effective.  For me that factor was my doctor- he sat me down (not for the first time) and basically told me that I cold not go on as I was, gaining a few pounds every year.  I had no medical problems but I was running headlong into metabolic syndrome, heart disease, stroke, etc.  I have a lot of respect for the guy and if he was taking his valuable time to talk about all this again, maybe I should listen.  Plus that and he told me to go buy an iPhone (for the Lose It app), doctors orders to buy an iPhone was something I wanted to hear.

The best advice I can give anyone is to play to their strengths and be aware of but don't dwell on their weaknesses. 

H


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## heathpack (May 28, 2012)

Today's Superfoods:

Scrambled eggs, toast, berries and coffee

Light cashew chicken salad

Half a box of Good and Plenty (while grading exams)

Beer, Half a turkey sandwich with cheese, garlic fries ad ketchup.

Hey, wait a minute, thats no list of Superfoods....

H


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## MuranoJo (May 28, 2012)

And as soon as I started reading your post, I was just thinking:  Wow, I'm already on this diet!

(BTW, I'm a fellow Cheez-It addict.)  Very top shelf of the pantry, takes a step-stool to get to them, so you have to think about it.  Alas, the little horned guy on my shoulder wins sometimes.


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## Rose Pink (May 28, 2012)

It's Memorial Day and I am having family over for a BBQ.  I don't know what I am going to serve.  Burgers will be on the menu and DH will probably buy brats as well.  Somehow, the traditional sugar-laden baked beans and mayo-laden potato salad just are not appealing to me today.  I think I'll buy some fresh fruits and have a green salad.  However, if the store is open, we will definitely be having Nielsen's Frozen Custard!


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## laurac260 (May 28, 2012)

muranojo said:


> Heathpack,
> I applaud all you're doing (both diet and exercise)--you are an inspiration.
> 
> But I did notice you included canola oil as a non-superfood, while I had heard for some time it is a 'good' fat, similar to olive oil.  And, of course, we do need fats in our diet.  So I dug around a bit and found this article.
> ...



There's just one problem with this article.  There is no such thing as a canola plant.  "Canola" is produced from genetically modified rapeseed.  Call it what you want.  The Canola Oil official website calls it this:  

"In the early 1970s, canola was developed using traditional plant breeding techniques to significantly reduce the levels of erucic acid and glucosinolates that were found in the parent rapeseed plant. The name "Canola" is a contraction of "Canadian" and "ola", which means oil."  

It's a shame that companies can take what nature gave us, genetically modify it, and then say "it's the best for you."  Sorry, I don't buy it. 

The best oils are olive oil and coconut oil, hands down.


----------



## Passepartout (May 28, 2012)

The term 'genetically modified' connotes some nefarious 'big-ag' conspiracy to inflict unknown multi generational unknown harm on unsuspecting humanity. What was done to the rapeseed plant to reduce its acidity and make it palatable for use as a cooking oil was done through normal plant breeding techniques. Like hybrid corn or wheat or potatoes or chickens or roses. Not fancy chemical or 'monkeying with the genes' engineering.

"Canola" stands for Canadian oil, low acid. I am no nutritionist, and only use this stuff sparingly when I want either high temperature tolerance or low flavor transfer. Some favors just aren't enhanced by olive oil.

Jim


----------



## CarolF (May 29, 2012)

Jaybee said:


> I feel the same way as you do about what I eat. Once I was aware of what I should do, it didn't take any will power. I am not good at depriving myself.
> I saw this article yesterday, and I thought it might influence someone, in a good way. I found it "Food for Thought".
> http://www.diseaseproof.com/archive...r-party-in-cardiovascular-intensive-care.html



I liked the "Food for Thought" article - 



> The truth of the matter is . . . disease is just too big of an obstacle to deal with.
> 
> Repeat: Disease is just too big of an obstacle to deal with.
> 
> ...



It reminded me of a conversation I had with an acquaintance, (interesting woman in her early 40's) who I'd invited to dinner.  Long story short, she said she thought our food divine and it was so nice to eat with healthy people instead of her DH.  She was considering leaving him because he ate a lot of meat, rarely ate vegetable/fruit, smoked and drank alcohol daily, he wasn't overweight.  As she put it, "your self-abuse means I will be required to nurse a diseased husband or visit you in a nursing home before my time, and I'm not signing up for that".  Memorable evening you might say.


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## rhonda (May 30, 2012)

5/30, so far:  Kale, Spinach, Romaine, Cabbage, Watermelon, Broccoli, Orange, Ginger, plain Yogurt w/ fresh milled Flaxseed, Almonds, Lime, Seaweed, Cucumber, Carrot, and Soy beans.


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## pjrose (May 30, 2012)

Steel-Cut Oats cooked in the crockpot with apples, raisins, and cinnamon
boneless skinless chicken breast marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, fresh rosemary and thyme from my backyard, and garlic, and sautéed without extra oil
couscous
brussels sprouts
broccoli
red wine
seltzer
and likely banana, strawberries, and light ice cream later


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## Ridewithme38 (May 30, 2012)

CarolF said:


> It reminded me of a conversation I had with an acquaintance, (interesting woman in her early 40's) who I'd invited to dinner.  Long story short, she said she thought our food divine and it was so nice to eat with healthy people instead of her DH.  She was considering leaving him because he ate a lot of meat, rarely ate vegetable/fruit, smoked and drank alcohol daily, he wasn't overweight.  As she put it, "your self-abuse means I will be required to nurse a diseased husband or visit you in a nursing home before my time, and I'm not signing up for that".  Memorable evening you might say.



It's a shame the prejudice that has shown it face lately based on nothing but what a few soap opera "Doctors" have said on talk shows...would she have divorced him if his family had a history or heart disease or Cancer? What about if he wore glasses? Maybe leaving him because of premature balding? 

Of course not, because it not politically correct to hate people because of their genetic disorders....But because someone has a healthy appetite and wants to enjoy his life, we have been programmed to hate him and treat him as less then a person.  

You know what this reminds me of? Back before the civil war, some of our greatest citizens were considered 3/5ths of a person, because popular culture believed it was true


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## BevL (May 30, 2012)

Almonds and jujubes.

Yep, so far that's it.  It has not been a good day on many fronts today but tomorrow will be better.


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## pjrose (May 31, 2012)

BevL said:


> Almonds and jujubes.
> 
> Yep, so far that's it.  It has not been a good day on many fronts today but tomorrow will be better.



In my case, when it's not a good day it affects my rear as well as my front


----------



## Rose Pink (May 31, 2012)

pjrose said:


> In my case, when it's not a good day it affects my rear as well as my front


Yeah, and I bulge out to the sides as well.  Been eating way too much frozen custard the past few days.


----------



## BevL (May 31, 2012)

Well, thanks, ladies, for the laugh.   

To top it off, I haven't walked for two days so I am feeling kinda bulgy today.

So out the door in the rain today - penance I guess - and will smarten up and not slide down into an emotional eating free fall.

Stress and snack food - lethal combo.

Have a great day all


----------



## rhonda (May 31, 2012)

This morning's freshly made fruit juice: 1 Lime, 1.5 small Apples, 1 large navel Orange, 1 wedge of Watermelon and 2 Strawberry.  Yummy!

Mid-morning green juice:  Spinach, Celery, Kale, Dandelion leaves, Cabbage, Lime and Ginger.

I'm so looking forward to that juicer I ordered last week ... when will it ship!?!?!  (I'm getting a bit anxious!)


----------



## heathpack (May 31, 2012)

Just back from New Orleans- business trip with grueling 14 hour days.  Not a very Superdiet but I did have a very tasty fried green tomato salad with bacon and chicken breast served over greens.

Today I am back to my normality- Greek yogurt, strawberries, blood orange, grapefruit, cherries, romaine, chicken breast, bell peppers, olive oil.  Dinner tonight is Chicken Picatta served over brown rice with green beans on the side and definately a glass of wine. 

I have nothing put together for dessert.  Maybe some sort of fruit Popscicle.  Maybe lime-cherry?  Stay tuned.

H


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## heathpack (May 31, 2012)

Chicken Picatta- dinner in 10 minutes or less


----------



## heathpack (May 31, 2012)

Cherry Lime Pops

6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons lime juice (from approx. 3 limes)
1 cup pitted sweet cherries

Place sugar and water in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar has dissolved.  Place sugar-water mixture, lime juice and cherries in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Chill mixture until cold & then freeze in the zoku pop maker.

Makes 5 pops.


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## pjrose (May 31, 2012)

Heath, how on earth did you do that dinner in 10 minutes?  

PJ


----------



## heathpack (Jun 1, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Heath, how on earth did you do that dinner in 10 minutes?
> 
> PJ



Next time you make rice, make more than you need.  Portion the extra into ziplocs and pop in the freezer.  Cooked rice freezes perfectly and reheats in microwave in 2-3 minutes.

When you buy boneless chicken breasts, cut the breasts horizontally into uniform 1/2 inch slabs.  Cut the trimmings up into bite sized pieces.  Package the breasts and freeze, package the bite sized pieces for stir fry.

To cook the Chicken Picatta, thaw the chicken breasts and rice overnight.  For 2 people, place 1/4 cup flour onto a plate and add salt and pepper; mix.

Place rice in microwave and cook 2 minutes.  When done, set aside.  Meanwhile, get from your fridge: butter, capers, one lemon.  Cut the lemon in half and squeeze half into a small bowl.  Cut a knob of butter, about 1 T, and let it sit on your cutting board.  Get a spoon out for caper-scooping.

Place a skillet on your stove, add a little neutral oil (I use canola), about 1T, and turn burner to high.  While oil is heating, dump frozen green beans into microwave and cook 7 minutes.

Once oil is hot, turn heat down to medium-ish, dredge chicken in flour, shake excess flour off, add chicken to pan and cook 3 min per side.

Once chicken is cooked, remove to a plate.  Take skillet off burner and add butter.  Swirl until melted.  Add a spoonful of capers and the lemon juice.  Stir briefly to combine.

Nestle chicken on hot rice, spoon butter-lemon sauce over top and serve with green beans on the side.

Pour yourself a nice glass of wine.  Sit down at a table and enjoy.

H


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## "Roger" (Jun 1, 2012)

pjrose said:


> Heath, how on earth did you do that dinner in 10 minutes?
> 
> PJ


A variation on what Heathpack does ...

Consider buying a fuzzy logic rice cooker.  

For beginners, you mentioned steelcut oatmeal.  You can put the steelcut oatmeal in the rice cooker while cleaning up after dinner, use the porridge setting, set the timer, and the oatmeal will be ready when you are for breakfast.  (I usually throw the dried fruit or dried fruit and cinnemon in just before I get dressed in the morning.)  Freshly cooked, it has a chewier texture which I like.  (I don't do this every day, but once or twice during the week.)

I also put the rice in early in the day and use the timer.  (You don't have to be exact on the timing.  The rice is actually ready about ten minutes before the timer goes off and a warmer will keep it another hour.)  I alternate between a version of Uncle Ben's (ten pound bags at Costco), Jasmine, and brown Basimati (it comes out fluffier than other types of brown rice).  I do have an advantage in that if I want to dress up the plain white rice, I have a garden and dehydrator.  For all practical purposes, I have an unlimited supply of dried red sweet peppers and tomatos.  Throw some in with the rice.

In any case, between the rice cooker and microwaving the vegetables, the only thing I have to worry about on the stove or grill is the main course.  It can be simple or complicated.  In the latter case, I always cook enough so that my wife and I can use it for two meals -- or something from the slow cooker, three meals.  All this gives my wife and I a chance to enjoy a glass of red wine starting about fifteen minutes before dinner.  (The most necessary step in the whole operation.)


----------



## pjrose (Jun 1, 2012)

Thanks Heath and Roger for the tips.  We do cook more than we need and always have things in the freezer as well as leftovers.  "Leftover Surprise" is one of our favorite dinners....put out all the little dishes from the refrig, put whatever combo you want from this "buffet" onto your plate, and microwave about a minute or two.

Heath, next time you make your under ten minute dinners, would you or Mr. H. actually set a timer or note the star and end times?  Just getting everything out would take me half of the time.....not to mention setting the table, opening the wine, etc.  (ok, so I'm being picky - maybe it's 12 or 14 minutes....STILL I'm very impressed!)

I wish I had timed dinner last night; it took 20-30 minutes and was quite good:

Make rice (didn't happen to have any frozen or leftover), frizzle the rice in a bit of butter first, and use part chicken stock (always available in our freezer...we never throw away a carcass that hasn't been made into stock first) for the liquid.  

While rice is cooking (~20 minutes for Uncle Ben's), take two good-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts that you've defrosted or partly defrosted, and slice them either horizontally into cutlets, or diagonally into tenders.  Pop them into a gallon ziplock bag.  Put chicken cutting board in a separate part of the sink (if you have two sides) from everything else, so you can clean it properly with bleach water.  I then also put it into the dishwasher.  

Wash one lemon (so bacteria from the outside doesn't travel in when you slice it), roll it on a board or counter (supposed to produce more juice), cut in half, and squeeze or use reamer to put juice from one half into a small bowl.  Remove seeds.  Dump lemon juice into the chicken bag and squish it around.  

Walk outside and pick a few sprigs of Rosemary and more than a few sprigs of Thyme (or whatever else strikes your fancy).  Inside to rinse same and pat dry, and pick off the leaves.  Chop if you like.  Dump leaves into chicken bag, squish around.  Chop, mince, slice, or press 3-4 big cloves of garlic (or some spoonsful if you use the jarred pre-minced), add to bag, squish around.  Then add a slurp of EVOO to the bag, squish around.  

Set table, pour drinks, make salad, prep vegetables, etc. Then heat pan medium or medium-high, no need for oil if it's non-stick, and put in half the chicken.  Sauté (cutlets) or stir-fry (tenders) till done to your liking, put in bowl repeat with other half.  While chicken is cooking, put pyrex bowl of fresh washed veggies with a bit of water into microwave for 2.5 - 3 minutes, remove, do same with second bowl.  (We tend to rotate among brussels sprouts, asparagus, carrots, and broccoli).  Drain veggie bowl over sink, add a small bit of butter (1/2 tsp?) and a small shake of salt or seasoned salt.  

Chicken and rice and veggies should be done at about the same time.  Adding some ch stock to the chicken pan and swirling around to deglaze would likely produce a nice little sauce, but we didn't bother.


----------



## rhonda (Jun 1, 2012)

Morning Green juice:  Spinach, Kale, Escarole, Dandelion leaves, Carrot and Ginger.

Cereal:  Puffed Grains with organic Raisins and fresh Blueberry.  (Served dry as a snacky-food.)

Snack: Plain greek Yogurt with fresh-milled Flaxseed, some Caraway seed and Turmeric.  Apple (whole).

Lunch was a minor disaster (pre-packaged Hawaiian Chicken Rice bowl).


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## heathpack (Jun 1, 2012)

Grilled Maple-Mustard-Vanilla Pork Chops with Glazed Carrots and Tossed Green Salad.  Admittedly pork chops are not consider superfood-esque, but they are tasty.

Total cooking time:  21:32:03

A bit of a cheat, though, Mr. H had brined the chops and peeled/cut the carrots earlier in the day.

H


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## AwayWeGo (Jun 1, 2012)

*Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.*

Blackeye peas with onions.
Price Club (Costco) roast chicken. 
Fresh pineapple. 
Seedless red grapes.
Navel oranges. 
Blueberries. 
Strawberries. 

Also, microwave multigrain hot cereal made with flaxseed meal & ground cinnamon & dried cherries & sprouted spelt & rough-cut rolled oats & skim milk. 

Plus, fresh-brewed black coffee, 1/2 regular + 1/2 decaf.  

Yum. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## pjrose (Jun 1, 2012)

crockpot steel-cut oats
about 1/2 breast of store-bought rotisserie chicken (more the size of a pigeon)
premade mashed potatoes
premade gravy
romaine, cherry tomatoes, asiago cheese, minimal dressing
white wine

banana, light ice cream, and perhaps strawberries later.


----------



## heathpack (Jun 1, 2012)

Strawberries, cherries, grapefruit, orange, date

Romaine, carrots, bell pepper, cucumber

Greek yogurt, low fat milk, chicken breast

Olive oil, mixed nuts

Water, white tea

Maple syrup, mustard

Non-super: Kashi GoLean cereal, cheddar cheese rice cakes, fun size pkt skittles, beer, pork chop, Mexican chocolate popscicle, butter


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## heathpack (Jun 3, 2012)

*Tasty Dessert: Honeyied Apricots topped w/Olallieberries and whipped yogurt cream*

Enjoyed the apricot sorbet so much a few weeks ago, that I decided to make some more.  Bought apricots at the farmers market this am, only to come home and discover that the ice cream maker bowl never got put back into the freezer.

So I decided to make some of this week's yogurt cups apricot-flavored instead of my usual strawberries.  Chopped up 3 apricots, added a tablespoon of honey and 1/4 tsp almond extract.  Set it aside to macerate awhile and then mixed itwith the yogurt.  Tasted really good, so I decided to slice the rest of the apricots and mix them up the same way to have for dessert.

I had also gotten some Olallieberries this morning- which are a blackberry-raspberry hybrid I'd never had before- and thought they'd look and taste swell with the apricots.

The Olallieberries are pretty sweet, as were the honeyied apricots, so instead of whipping some cream the regular way, I wondered if maybe I could whip in some yogurt to give a bit to tang.  Spent about 20 seconds on a google search and learned yes, you can whip equal parts cream and yogurt, add sugar to taste.  

So the final construct was honeyied apricots, with Olallieberries, topped with whipped yogurt cream, and finally a few chopped toasted almonds leftover from yesterday's oatmeal breakfast.

Yes, it was good.

H


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## pjrose (Jun 3, 2012)

Steel-cut oats

Yucky cold pizza (fortunately not too much of it)

stir fried:
lean beef
onions
garlic
carrots
broccoli
soy/sherry/ginger
very little veg oil

on leftover couscous

with white wine

I think I did pretty well except for the pizza and maybe the wine.

and as always, I'll have my late night light ice cream over a sliced banana, and maybe some strawberries.


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## MuranoJo (Jun 4, 2012)

PJ, I get a chuckle out of your late-night ice cream cravings.  My DH is the same way--he's an ice cream addict.  Interestingly, his career was also teaching.  Hmmm...


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## heathpack (Jun 4, 2012)

*Apricot and Berry Yogurt Parfait*






12 oz portion is 1.5 times the size of the Panera yogurt parfait, but is 60 cal less- only 250 calories vs 310 at Panera.

Homemade parfait also has twice the protein, twice the fiber, 25% less sodium, more vitamin A and C, and zero fat vs 11 gms Panera.

Did you know that if you eliminate 50-60 calories from every meal, you will cut enough calories to lose a pound a month?  Reasons to feed yourself at home.

H


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## rhonda (Jun 4, 2012)

So far today:

Early-morning Juice: Cantaloupe, Strawberry, Blueberry, Tomato, Carrot, Orange & Ginger.
Mid-morning Juice: Romaine, Celery, Tomato, Carrot, Spinach, Escarole &  Ginger.

Snack: Puffed grains, walnuts, raisins and carrot (whole).
Lunch Juice: Apple, Romaine, Celery, Spinach, Escarole & Ginger.


----------



## Renny30 (Jun 4, 2012)

Ridewithme38 said:


> It's a shame the prejudice that has shown it face lately based on nothing but what a few soap opera "Doctors" have said on talk shows...would she have divorced him if his family had a history or heart disease or Cancer? What about if he wore glasses? Maybe leaving him because of premature balding?
> 
> Of course not, because it not politically correct to hate people because of their genetic disorders....But because someone has a healthy appetite and wants to enjoy his life, we have been programmed to hate him and treat him as less then a person.
> 
> You know what this reminds me of? Back before the civil war, some of our greatest citizens were considered 3/5ths of a person, because popular culture believed it was true



I have to agree with you. I do understand her concerns, but she could have a car accident and end up being the one in the nursing home. We never know what life is going to deal us. Some people eat like pigs and drink 'till the day they die without ever getting sick. My grandfather ate and drank what he wanted and drank what everybody else wanted until he was 95. He spent the last 5 yrs of his life in a nursing home, but who doesn't at 95 and my grandmother who never drank a day in her life was dead by the time he went in the home, so I don't know. I think we should do the best we can, but to consider leaving a spouse because you predict the burden of caring for them is pretty pathetic. I don't think she'd like it if her sister had breast cancer and he decided to leave her because he could foresee a double mastectomy in her future. Come on....


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## Renny30 (Jun 4, 2012)

I've been following this thread, because I like the pictures. They look good and I need to be inspired to be creative. 

As for my superfoods, I had blueberries and kale today. Lots of kale. I try to incorporate one or two a day. 

I'm actually think of working with an "Eating Coach". Yes, there is  such a thing, because I've got to do better.


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## heathpack (Jun 6, 2012)

*Sweet Cherry Ice Cream*






Ingredients:  Cherries, cream, milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice

Breyers Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Ingredients:  Milk, sugar, cherries, plum/cherry/black carrot extract, citric acid, natural flavors, corn syrup, cream, whey, mono- & diglycerides, carob bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, vitamin A and tara gum.

Make your favorite fruit ice cream this summer.

H


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## spencersmama (Jun 6, 2012)

heathpack said:


> Did you know that if you eliminate 50-60 calories from every meal, you will cut enough calories to lose a pound a month?  Reasons to feed yourself at home.
> 
> H



Your counter in the parfait picture is so shiny!  

I am so bad about cooking at home. I need to get better about it! Your pictures look so delicious, it is motivating me to cook.  I'll need to look at this thread tomorrow around 4:30 pm...


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## rhonda (Jun 6, 2012)

From yesterday: Cantaloupe, Strawberry, Carrot, Ginger, Beet, Apple, Spinach, Escarole, Romaine, Celery, Almonds, and Walnuts.  I don't have a photo, but the beet/carrot/apple juice was a deep velvet red.  Rather lovely!


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## AwayWeGo (Jun 6, 2012)

*Most Important Meal Of The Day.*

Double dose of instant oatmeal -- 1 plain, 1 sweetened & flavored, mixed.

Big bunch of strawberries (on top of the oatmeal). 

Large navel orange. 

Big mug of fresh brewed coffee -- next batch is gurgling away in the 4-cup Mr. Coffee Jr. right now. 

Is this a great country or what ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## pjrose (Jun 8, 2012)

My Weight Watchers week starts on Fridays, and I'm starting this week out right:

sliced bananas and strawberries with orange juice

grilled vegs: mushrooms, onion, yellow squash, green beans, and asparagus
guacamole made with the avocado, half a tomato, and the juice of half a lime
with two POPs (Kim's Magic Pops http://www.deliceglobal.com/)

Tonight - probably take-out Indian from Wegman's Asian Wokery.


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## MuranoJo (Jun 10, 2012)

*Steel-cut oats*



pjrose said:


> Good stuff so far today:
> 
> 
> *steel cut oats *(every morning, thanks to TUG and the discussion of the CHIP Diet!)
> ...



PJ, I missed the discussion of the CHIP Diet and can't find it in search.

I do not like oatmeal, but noticed a few posts about steel-cut oats and found some Red Mill steel-cut today so we're going to give it a try.  Would you mind sharing how you cook it in the crockpot so we can make it ahead and it will be ready in the morning?  Thanks!


----------



## pjrose (Jun 10, 2012)

Here's the thread on CHIP Coronary Health Improvement Project
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149509

My crockpot recipe is my modification of some I found online.

I make about a week's worth:


Spray crockpot with butter-flavored spray - this stuff can stick!
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats (e.g. Bob's Red Mill, could instead use part SC Oats and for the rest one of Bob's MultiGrain Hot Cereals instead; I did that but found it grittier.)
6-7 cups liquid - generally I use 1 c nonfat milk, the rest water.  I like mine a little creamier hence the 7th cup.  Some use almond milk.
(or for less, use 1 c oats to 4 c liquid)
about 1/4 c raisins - or one of those little snack-size boxes
1 apple, peeled and cut up - I cut it into pieces not much bigger than the raisins; the pieces grow.  I've thought about dumping in some applesauce instead.
1-2 TBS cinnamon - original recipe called for 2, but I use 1
1-2 tsp vanilla
some salt - maybe 1/2 tsp - optional
sugar or sugar substitute - I use about 2 TBS Splenda Brown Sugar blend

Spray the crockpot, dump in the rest, stir, and cook on low for 7 hours, maybe 8 if you use the extra c of liquid.  Don't try it on high, you'll have concrete stuck to the sides of the crockpot.  It smells like apple pie cooking!  I eat it for breakfast almost every day, and a late night snack sometimes.


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## MuranoJo (Jun 10, 2012)

Great, thanks, PJ!
I'll give this a try.  I'm assuming you just nuke the leftovers?
That would be wonderful to make a bunch and then just reheat.


----------



## pjrose (Jun 10, 2012)

Yep, I put it all in 1-2 Pyrex storage bowls, then scoop out around a cup every morning and nuke for 1-1.5 minutes.

I love the texture, sort of barley-like nubbins, plump raisins, and apples in a creamy pudding.  

The basic is just 4 to 1 liquid to oats, everything else is optional and to taste, and as noted I like more liquid. A pat of butter or marg on top of each serving is yumm... But adds a WW point.  I find that if I add a few TBS of splenda brown sugar blend when it's cooking, I'm less tempted to add sugar to each bowl. 

I've used golden raisins and regular brown ones, currants when I ran out of raisins, and considered craisins.  

I tried almond extract but couldn't taste it.  I get big bottles of good vanilla every year in Mexico, and use it in just about all baking or sweet cooking, also in cut up fresh fruit.


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## Jaybee (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the oatmeal recipe.  I'm going to use it.  Sounds yummy.


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## heathpack (Jun 10, 2012)

*This weeks Farmers Market haul*











Four heads romaine
2 pounds Ranier cherries
7 Oroblanco grapefruit
8 Tarocco blood oranges
2 Eureka lemons
3 Mexican limes
3 pack strawberries
2 pints raspberries
1 pint blackberries
4 pluots
4 Japanese cucumbers
8 plum tomatoes
4 ears corn
1 bunch Thai basil
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch lemongrass
1 pastured Tri-tip roast
1 dozen pastured eggs
1 bunch pink Lilies

$92 in total

A pretty typical Sunday morning shopping trip for us.  We spend another $50 per week approx at supermarket and maybe $25 at Costco.

I forgot to pick up chiles, I will have to walk over to the Mexican market later on, it is right around the corner from us.

This week we are having rotisserie Cuban pork loin, Thai green curry, grilled pizza, and probably homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.

H


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## Sandy VDH (Jun 10, 2012)

*Primal burn*

Has anyone tried this diet and exercise program.  Don't know anything about it really except I ran across an online ad.  Price was $47 for online books.  Price is not that bad, but is it at all useful.  I did look up reviews but they all seemed a bit like they were staged or shills.  Not sure.  Has anyone heard of this program?


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## MuranoJo (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the additional info., PJ.
Today I was poking around on the net and found several recipes for cooking the oats in crockpots--very similar to yours.  My DH is turning his nose up, but frankly I think he'll like this more than I as he likes oatmeal and I don't.

H, your photos just make me drool.


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## heathpack (Jun 11, 2012)

*Thai Green Curry*






Superfoods:
Chicken
Bell peppers
Zucchini
Coconut (milk)
Ginger
Garlic
Shallot (onion)
Cilantro
Basil


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## MuranoJo (Jun 11, 2012)

Reporting back that I tried the crockpot steel-cut oats and they were yummy!

PJ, I made your recipe to a 'T,' but used just regular Splenda.  I forgot to add any butter, but included the diced apple, raisens, and cooked about 8.5 hours.  We both really liked it; DH said he'd almost prefer adding the fruit just before serving.  I thought it was fine with the fruit cooked in.

Meanwhile, I have a nice-sized container for the rest of the week.   
Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Whirl (Jun 11, 2012)

heathpack said:


> Superfoods:
> Chicken
> Bell peppers
> Zucchini
> ...



oh my..what's the recipe for that? it looks so satisfying, healthy and totally delicious!


----------



## heathpack (Jun 12, 2012)

Whirl said:


> oh my..what's the recipe for that? it looks so satisfying, healthy and totally delicious!



Thai green curry.

From the following recipe:
http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/greencurrychick.htm  I didnt have shrimp paste (don't even know what that is), so I left it out.

It was really good!

H


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## pjrose (Jun 12, 2012)

muranojo said:


> Reporting back that I tried the crockpot steel-cut oats and they were yummy!. . .
> Thanks for sharing.



You're welcome; I have to go make a pot now! 



heathpack said:


> Thai green curry.
> 
> From the following recipe:
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/greencurrychick.htm  I didnt have shrimp paste (don't even know what that is), so I left it out.
> ...



And H, thank YOU for sharing!  Yummmmmm.......


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## Jaybee (Jun 13, 2012)

I made your oatmeal yesterday, and I love it!  If it "sticks to your ribs" the way it tries to stick to the crockpot, we should be in great shape. 
I added a spoonful of hemp seed to mine.  I'll also try flax powder.  Yummy! 




pjrose said:


> Here's the thread on CHIP Coronary Health Improvement Project
> http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149509
> [*]1 1/2 cups steel cut oats (e.g. Bob's Red Mill, could .


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## heathpack (Jun 18, 2012)

*Italian sausages with stone fruit, balsamic and sage*






Brown Italian sausages in olive oil and then cook, covered, over low heat until cooked through.

Remove sausages from pan a keep warm.  Add a knob of butter, about 1 T per serving, some chopped fresh sage, maybe 1t per serving, one spoonful of brown sugar per serving and about 1 T balsamic vinegar per serving.  Add 1-2 sliced stone fruit (we used pluots).  Cook over low heat until fruit is soft and sauce is thickened.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Adjust sugar and vinegar to yield a sweet and tangy taste.

Return sausages to pan and roll to coat with glaze.  We like these with polenta and a green vegetable.  We usually use chicken or turkey sausages.


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## pjrose (Jun 18, 2012)

Sure looks a lot better than my Lean Cuisine!  It was good....but your pictures are amazing.  I just got hungry


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## AwayWeGo (Jun 19, 2012)

*Fiber & Anti-Oxidants Galore.  Tasty, too.*

Extra-thick rolled oats plus sprouted-wheat hot cereal & flaxseed meal, all mixed up together with skim milk & some fine-ground Price Club (Costco) Vietnamese cinnamon -- zapped in the microwave & served up (after it cooled) with banana slices & (thawed) frozen wild blueberries. 

Also, fresh-brewed black coffee (1/2 decaf + 1/2 regular). 

Yum.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## Pens_Fan (Jun 19, 2012)

Oreos and chili cheese Fritos.


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## pjrose (Jun 19, 2012)

*Super Beets and Greens ?*

The other day I got a bunch of beautiful baby beets at the Farmer's Market for about $3.00 

After trimming, rinsing, cooking, easing off the skins, and adding just a tad of butter and salt, they were delicious.  I got maybe the same amount as in a can, and honestly, they didn't taste any different from a can of baby beets for 79c.  

I also sorted the greens, rinsed, rinsed again, and cooked them with the water clinging to the leaves and just a tad of olive oil.  Again, very good - but not sure it was worth the trouble for a total of about 1/2 cup of cooked greens.  

Lots of veggies and most fruits taste MUCH better fresh (asparagus, broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts, and of course corn on the cob,) but some - e.g. beets or good canned corn (niblets) in the winter - I really can't tell the difference.


----------



## Twinkstarr (Jun 19, 2012)

Made baked Kale chips tonight, recipe from the local farmer's market. Wash and dry leaves, toss with 1TBS of olive oil, the 1TBS of sherry vinegar. Bake for 25 min at 300, flip half way through. Add a little salt and serve.


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## heathpack (Jun 19, 2012)

pjrose said:


> The other day I got a bunch of beautiful baby beets at the Farmer's Market for about $3.00
> 
> After trimming, rinsing, cooking, easing off the skins, and adding just a tad of butter and salt, they were delicious.  I got maybe the same amount as in a can, and honestly, they didn't taste any different from a can of baby beets for 79c.
> 
> ...



PJ,

There's a number of reasons I prefer to buy local food from the farmers market.  1. Its probably fresher and more nutritious.  2.  I think it is ecologically unsound to transport food long distances when the same food is produced locally.  3. I enjoy the shopping experience more- outdoors, chatty, 4.  Its easy to avoid frankeningredients, 5.  I like to support local farmers, and 6.  Mostly the food tastes better.  But you raise an excellent point- which food really DO taste better from the farmers market?

My opinion on things current available in our FM that are way better than supermarket:
1.  Cherries
2.  Raspberries and blackberries
3.  Strawberries
4.  Grapefruit (mostly b/c supermarket does not have Oroblancos)
5.  Oranges (mostly b/c supermarket does not stock Tarocco blood oranges)
6.  Cucumbers (again a variety thing, I like these Japanese cukes)
7.  Beef
8.  Eggs
9.  Olive oil- cold pressed extra virgin manzanillo blend
10.  Butter
11.  Carrots
12.  Tomatoes
13.  Lettuce
14.  Honey
15.  Hummus

Things that are pretty good in supermarket admittedly:
1.  Corn on cob
2.  Peppers
3.  Cheese
4.  Onions
5.  Garlic
6.  Potatoes
7.  Mushrooms

Things that are just way cheaper at FM:
1.  Herbs
2.  Lemons
3.  Limes
4.  Flowers

We bought our first pastured chicken this past Sunday and are cooking it up tonight.  Standby for feedback as to whether it is worth quadruple the price of a supermarket bird.

H


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## heathpack (Jun 19, 2012)

*Grill-Roasted Beer Can Chicken, Corn (cut off) the Cob, Coleslaw*






Yeah, the chicken was 4x good.

H


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## Elan (Jun 19, 2012)

Italian sausage is a superfood?  Who knew?


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## MuranoJo (Jun 19, 2012)

I've seen the 'Hungry Girl' show demonstrate the kale chips.  Tempted to try, but wasn't too impressed with fresh kale sauteed with oil, garlic and seasoning.  (But I love sauteed or steamed spinach and beet greens.)

Best beet recipe I had was an aunt's:  She simply shredded a couple of fresh beets and sauteed them in butter.  

DH makes pickled beets from our garden and people love them, but I'm not a fan.


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## heathpack (Jun 21, 2012)

*Grilled Zucchini and Tomato Salad*






Cut zucchini lengthwise into planks, brush with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill on hot grill until cooked, about 3 min per side.  Cut tomato into wedges and place in a bowl.  Add chopped basil, salt & pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

Cut cooked zucchini crosswise into 1" pieces and toss with tomato mixture.  Serve warm or at room temp.

And since we've already established that chicken Italian sausage is a superfood, serve your salad alongside this:






Fettuccini Alfredo and grilled sausages.

H


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## Whirl (Jun 23, 2012)

heathpack said:


> Thai green curry.
> 
> From the following recipe:
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/greencurrychick.htm  I didnt have shrimp paste (don't even know what that is), so I left it out.
> ...


thanks...i just rememebred this as i was heading to the store. i logged on just to get the recipe....sorry for the delayed reply, but thanks so much for sharing. it looks divine!


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## heathpack (Jun 25, 2012)

*Superfood Dinner Party*

We had a dinner party last night and we unintentionally put together a superfood menu.  

Cocktail hour:
White Sangria made of white wine, GREEN GRAPES, KIWI, PINEAPPLE, simple syrup and sparkling water.  I will remind you that lots of people consider wine a superfood.

Black Sangria made of red wine, CHERRIES, PLUMS, BLACKBERRIES, BLACK GRAPES, blood ORANGE, simple syrup and sparkling water.  See previous comment on wine.

Pineapple cocktails made of freshly squeezed PINEAPPLE juice, MINT, rum, curaçao, banana liqueur, simple syrup, and a squeeze of LIME.  Ok, rum is probably not on any superfood list.

OLIVES, roasted ALMONDS, roasted red PEPPER hummus (made of course of CHICKPEAS), sliced red BELL PEPPER, sliced CUCUMBERS, and pretzel chips

Gazpacho made of TOMATOES, CUCUMBERS, BELL PEPPER, SWEET ONION, GARLIC, CAYENNE, vinegar and tomato juice.

Main Entree:
Rotisserie leg of LAMB, seasoned with GARLIC, LEMON peel, CUMIN, CORIANDER, and paprika.

Red POTATOES roasted beneath the lamb.

Grilled ZUCHINNI with balsamic glaze.

YOGURT-CUCUMBER sauce with DILL

Pitas

Dessert:  
Fresh STRAWBERRY pie with whipped cream.  

Coffee.

The rest of the sangria.

Feed your friends well so they live a long time.

H


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## MichaelColey (Jun 25, 2012)

Today on my super food list:

Tater Tots
Dr Pepper
Pepperoni, Ham, Salami and Cheese Sandwich
Chocolate
Cheeseburger

I didn't check the list to make sure those were super foods, but surely they are.


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## heathpack (Jun 25, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Dr Pepper
> Pepperoni



PEPPER is a superfood.  It appears you ate peppers in two forms.  Well played, Mr. C!


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## heathpack (Jun 30, 2012)

*Whole wheat bread*

I was looking at the label on my store-bought diet bread and I noticed one of the ingredients is "cellulose". Isn't that basically sawdust?

So today I was home cooking for a party we are having tomorrow and I decided I might as well try making whole wheat bread.  It's much better tasting than my sawdust bread but about 50% higher in calories.  The sawdust bread is about $4 per loaf and I estimate homemade to be about half that.  Of course it takes way longer to make 3 loaves of bread than to buy the sawdust bread at the store.  Not sure the homemade will make it to staple status on logistical grounds- maybe, maybe not. 






H


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## MichaelColey (Jun 30, 2012)

heathpack said:


> I was looking at the label on my store-bought diet bread and I noticed one of the ingredients is "cellulose". Isn't that basically sawdust?


It looks like that's pretty close:

"The high-fiber breads that are becoming so popular these days contain powdered cellulose, a cheap byproduct of the paper industry."


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## MuranoJo (Jul 1, 2012)

H, you just continue to amaze me with your wonderful dishes and the salivating photos you share. Making homemade bread is something very few do these days.

We used to use our breadmaker all the time and never purchased store brands.  Now it just sits there collecting dust.

Since we eat a lot of high-fiber Sara Lee, I need to check the ingredients for cellulose.


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## MichaelColey (Jul 1, 2012)

At least now we know why the high fiber stuff tastes like cardboard.


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## Texasbelle (Jul 1, 2012)

Sunday morning: homemade bran muffins containing dried fruit and nuts.  Coffee and orange juice with pulp.


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## AwayWeGo (Jul 2, 2012)

*Superdog.*

Footlong chili-cheese dog from Dairy Queen. 

Sr. citz. coffee from McDonalds. 

Not organic, but who cares ? 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## heathpack (Jul 4, 2012)

*Happy Fourth of July!*

On the theme of bread-baking, made hamburger buns for today's cookout.  They contain the superfoods of mashed POTATO, EGGS and SESAME SEEDS.  No sawdust, lol.






Also made STRAWBERRY ice cream, which left me with six EGG whites. 

Since I was in the kitchen and had things dirty anyway, I whipped up some marshmallow fluff.  Have no idea where that came from, but since the main ingredient is egg whites, marshmallow fluff is clearly a superfood.

So today's list:
Strawberries
Greek yogurt
Boysenberries (raspberry hybrid so it counts)
Fluffernutter sand which with whole wheat bread, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff
Cherries and plums
Watermelon margarita
Hamburger made from organic, grass-fed beef
Potato roll
Lettuce, tomato and carmelized onion jam
Cole slaw
Pinto Beans
Strawberry Ice Cream

H


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## AwayWeGo (Jul 5, 2012)

*The Most Super Of All.*





-- hotlinked --​
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## heathpack (Jul 7, 2012)

*Taco Salad*






5oz Romaine dressed with 1/4 cup (homemade leftover) green salsa mixed with 1 teaspoon olive oil

Toppings: 
homemade taco filling made with lean grass-fed beef
1/2 cup leftover cooked pinto beans
1 chopped tomato
1/2 oz queso fresco
pickled red onions

Served with 2 oz tortilla chips

Crazy 30 grams protein and 15 grams of fiber in a 690 cal salad.  Most of the ingredients were leftover from a big party we hosted last Sunday.

690 calories may seem like a lot for lunch, but we had a very big restaurant dinner last night and were not hungry for breakfast this AM.  So at 2pm, the total calories for the day is only 730- the taco salad and some watermelon juice and seltzer water.

H


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## b2bailey (Apr 16, 2020)

pjrose said:


> I love the positive approach. I'll try it!
> 
> Not sure which are superfoods, but this is my list for today so far:
> 
> ...


I'm LOL because I started reading this post, assumed it was 'new' because I hadn't seen the topic before today. So I'm reading along until I read a mention of 'DS graduation' and I'm thinking... "That's nice must have done it before Covid-19. "
And that's when I looked at the date -- and saw the year of first post was 2012!

Going to keep reading, topic is still relative and I will be curious to see who/how it got resurrected.


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## pedro47 (Apr 16, 2020)

MichaelColey said:


> Today on my super food list:
> 
> Tater Tots
> Dr Pepper
> ...


I have missed your posts MichaelColey , over the passed several months.
Praying you are OK.
My superfood meal for dinner yesterday was a rib eye steak, with red skin potatoes, and a seafood salad with a glass of red wine. LOL.


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## Brett (Apr 16, 2020)

b2bailey said:


> I'm LOL because I started reading this post, assumed it was 'new' because I hadn't seen the topic before today. So I'm reading along until I read a mention of 'DS graduation' and I'm thinking... "That's nice must have done it before Covid-19. "
> And that's when I looked at the date -- and saw the year of first post was 2012!
> 
> Going to keep reading, topic is still relative and I will be curious to see who/how it got resurrected.



keeping a zombie post alive !

my "superfood" yesterday was spaghetti


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## Glynda (Apr 16, 2020)

Over the years my mother's most requested dish has been her chicken 'n dumplings. It's what she made when I came home to visit from college. When visiting home after marriage. It's what she made because our daughter loved to have it at grandma's house. Then our granddaughter. It's what she made for us since she moved here. Over the years, she's tried enlist me for lessons but I just couldn't do it. There was something too final to think that she was passing on the baton.  I have helped her make the chicken part over the but never the dumplings. Seeing her at the kitchen countertop working and rolling the dough was somehow sacred to the dish and her love for us.  Mother is no longer able to cook for more than a few minutes and she requested it. She's too weary and her arms and hands shake with Parkinson's. So yesterday, I made it all for the first time with a little supervision from her on the dumplings. It was surprisingly good!  But will never be quite the same.


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## b2bailey (Apr 16, 2020)

heathpack said:


> *Superfood Dinner Party*
> 
> We had a dinner party last night and we unintentionally put together a superfood menu.
> 
> ...


I'm gonna order this entire menu (including all three beverages) for my last meal.


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## b2bailey (Apr 16, 2020)

Renny30 said:


> I have to agree with you. I do understand her concerns, but she could have a car accident and end up being the one in the nursing home. We never know what life is going to deal us. Some people eat like pigs and drink 'till the day they die without ever getting sick. My grandfather ate and drank what he wanted and drank what everybody else wanted until he was 95. He spent the last 5 yrs of his life in a nursing home, but who doesn't at 95 and my grandmother who never drank a day in her life was dead by the time he went in the home, so I don't know. I think we should do the best we can, but to consider leaving a spouse because you predict the burden of caring for them is pretty pathetic. I don't think she'd like it if her sister had breast cancer and he decided to leave her because he could foresee a double mastectomy in her future. Come on....


If I live to be 90 and I'm facing five years in a nursing home, I would rather leave this world with Grandma.


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## b2bailey (Apr 16, 2020)

I'm confused about which current post brought the 2012 post back from the dead.


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## b2bailey (Apr 16, 2020)

pedro47 said:


> I have missed your posts MichaelColey , over the passed several months.
> Praying you are OK.
> My superfood meal for dinner yesterday was a rib eye steak, with red skin potatoes, and a seafood salad with a glass of red wine. LOL.


I agree. Michael, are you out there?


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## VacationForever (Apr 16, 2020)

b2bailey said:


> I'm confused about which current post brought the 2012 post back from the dead.


Some advertiser posted on this old thread last night which I reported to the Moderators immediately.  That post got deleted but the thread remains resurrected.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 16, 2020)

Funny to see this old post back again.  Yeah, I am eating a lot of superfoods lately, eating at home, healthy food, but my weight loss is slow due to the virus.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 16, 2020)

b2bailey said:


> I agree. Michael, are you out there?


Michael Coley is good.  He is a Facebook friend of mine.  I will let him know you are all thinking of him.  Maybe he will come back to TUG and say hi.  I know he has been trying to give away some Branson weeks on FB because they bought a camper that they are enjoying for now.


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## b2bailey (Apr 16, 2020)

VacationForever said:


> Some advertiser posted on this old thread last night which I reported to the Moderators immediately.  That post got deleted but the thread remains resurrected.


That explains why I couldn't find it. Thanks.


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## Brett (Apr 16, 2020)

VacationForever said:


> Some advertiser posted on this old thread last night which I reported to the Moderators immediately.  That post got deleted but the thread remains resurrected.



so that's how zombie posts get resurrected
.
 I liked the protein bowls at the Mediterranean Grill


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## clifffaith (Apr 16, 2020)

Superfood = brownies. Tonight before I leave my office I'll take our last carton of ice cream upstairs with me and we'll have a generous scoop of Mocha Almond Fudge on our brownie slab. A super food double whammy!


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## MichaelColey (Apr 17, 2020)

pedro47 said:


> I have missed your posts MichaelColey , over the passed several months.
> Praying you are OK.
> My superfood meal for dinner yesterday was a rib eye steak, with red skin potatoes, and a seafood salad with a glass of red wine. LOL.



Doing great, but not timesharing much anymore. We bought an RV a few years ago and did several long trips (6 weeks and 10 weeks, plus several shorter ones). We are doing far less travel now, though, as the kids (10, 14, and 17) get older. We homeschool, but they started taking supplemental coop classes this year, so we can’t travel as freely. The economy has been challenging and we’ve downsized our businesses and I’m looking to re-enter the workforce after 20 years of self-employment.

Like Cindy said, I do have several Palace View lockoffs is like to give away.


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