Nut Butter Crusted Parsnip Fries

Adapted from Diet, Dessert, & Dogs.

Yield: 1-2 servings.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into thin fry-like strips
• 3 tbsp nut butter (I used 2 tbsp chunky peanut butter + 1 tbsp almond butter)*
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

Directions: Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up. Peel and cut parsnips into fry-like strips. In a medium size bowl, mix together the nut butters, olive oil, and salt. Take parsnips and toss in bowl with your hands until fully coated. Line up on baking pan and cook at 400F for 30-50 minutes until crisp. I cooked mine for 40 minutes, but probably could have left them in another 5 minutes to crisp up even more. They were wonderful!

Note: You can probably use any kind of nut butter you prefer!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Almond milk (or your choice – regular milk may be used if you are not vegan)
• 1/3 cup regular oats
• 1 tbsp carob powder (I buy it at bulk Barn)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• Tiny pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp walnuts, chopped (optional, or use other nuts)
• 1 ripe banana, chopped
• Maple syrup to drizzle, to taste (optional)

Directions: Mix the dry ingredients (oats, carob powder, chia seeds, optional walnuts, salt) in a medium sized bowl with a whisk. Now pour in the milk and pure vanilla extract, Whisk well until all clumps are gone. Finally, Stir in the chopped ripe banana. Place in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. You can cover it, or leave it under covered. When ready, give it a good stir and enjoy. Drizzle a bit of maple syrup on top if you wish! You can get creative with different mix-ins too.

Nutritional info (Serves 1, not including walnuts): approx. ~450 kcals, 14 grams fat (includes 6.3 g Omega-3 & 1.9 g Omega-6), 20 grams fibre, and 16 grams protein.

Combine the flavors of two popular Middle Eastern dips (baba ghanouj and hummus) in this tasty puree. Serve with raw veggies or spread on whole grain crackers.

Ingredients

2 large eggplants (about 1 pound each), halved lengthwise
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic

Chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans) are a delicious, versatile, nutritious pantry staple, and cooking dried beans at home makes them incredibly affordable. Add them to soups, salads or curries, and use them to make some homemade hummus.

Ingredients

1 pound dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large celery stalk, cut into 3 pieces
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (optional)

The One Supplement that should be in Everyone’s Cooking Cupboard By Donna Gates for BodyEcology.com

The Addictive Quality of Sugar.  Did you know sugar consumption has risen 1,500 percent in the last 200 years?

The average American today consumes 150 pounds of sugar per year compared to the early 1800s, when sugar was a rarity and reserved for special occasions.

Processed Foods and Sugar

When you think about how much sugar is in processed foods today, it’s pretty scary.   We are literally becoming addicted to high carb foods and it shows in the epidemics of obesity and diabetes, among other health issues in America.

Without a doubt, sugar tastes good – so good in fact, we often joke about how addictive it is. The addictive quality of sugar is no joke, however. Studies done on rats show that sugar’s addictive properties and withdrawal symptoms are similar to drugs (though not as strong).

Your Blood Sugar Levels and Sugar

Refined carbohydrates contribute to serious health problems. As our blood sugar elevates, the cells can only accept so much sugar at once, and they are most accepting only when we are active and exercising. The excess sugar converts to fat.

Sprinkle in Some Stress

Add stress to the mix and you increase this problem exponentially. Stress causes a surge in cortisol, further increasing blood sugar levels. Insulin and cortisol in excess are called the “death hormones.” Besides causing your blood to become acidic and attractive to yeasts, fungus and cancer, you can expect problems like hormonal imbalances, early aging, adrenal fatigue and more.

Is eating that candy bar, for example, really worth creating this kind of suffering?

Not So Sweet Artificial Sweeteners

While it may have seemed smart to turn to artificial sweeteners, like aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal) and sucralose (Splenda), these alternatives are NOT safe choices.

The average American consumes over 50 pounds of artificial sweetener per year, often in snacks and soda pop.

Aspartame has been found to create side effects like memory loss, headaches and blurry vision.

Even if you were to risk the side effects for its calorie-free weight loss claims, evidence is now showing that aspartame can actually contribute to obesity.

One of its ingredients, the amino acid phenylalanine, actually blocks serotonin, which has a role in controlling cravings. The effect on your body may be that you now crave the high-carbohydrate, processed foods that sabotage your intention to eat healthier foods.

Sucralose has similar findings, such as enlargement of the liver and kidneys, shrinking of the thymus gland (plays a role in immunity and disease fighting), atrophy of the lymph, decreased red blood cell count, decreased fetal body weights and diarrhea, just to name a few.

Satisfying Your Sweet Tooth
Everywhere we turn these days, there is a great deal of agreement that sugar can harm your health, but there is very little information available on healthy choices to satisfy your sweet tooth. Providing solutions for healthy sweeteners has long been a goal of mine.

According to the ancient practice of Ayurvedic medicine, the sweet taste is one of six tastes…salty, bitter, sweet, pungent, sour and astringent.

Balance in all things, including how we balance the six tastes, is one of the key principles of the Body Ecology program.

A meal is balanced and very satisfying to us if each of these tastes is in that meal. We should never feel guilty for wanting sweet-tasting foods. That’s natural, but how we satisfy our natural desire for the sweet taste needs reevaluating.  Adding fermented foods and beverages to your diet will also help stop sugar cravings.

Stevia – The Healthy Sweetener

An extraordinarily sweet herb, stevia is 200 – 300 times sweeter than sugar – and yet, it’s calorie free!

Stevia is a member of the chrysanthemum family (closely related to chamomile and tarragon) and totally safe. It has been used for centuries by the Indians of South America (where it grows) and in Japan for the past 30 years.

How Stevia Tastes

If you buy the stevia as a green powder it has a slight licorice-like flavor that might take some getting used to. Stevia in the white powder form is an extract of the two components of stevia that give stevia its sweet taste. The white extract powder does not have the health benefits of the green stevia but it does have a much wider use since it is more delicious. Either form of stevia can help prevent cavities, will not feed yeast and does not raise blood sugar levels, making it safe for diabetics.

Stevia’s History and Safety

When looking for stevia in your health food store, you will find it in the supplement section because stevia has not been approved by the FDA as a sweetener. It has been approved as a dietary supplement, however.

The history behind this is that stevia was once a huge threat to Monsanto, when they still had the patent for NutraSweet. Now that the patent has run out, more natural alternative sweeteners are able to come on the market without the backlash that stevia encountered years ago.

Stevia has been tested in human and animal studies around the world with no negative side effects. Ironically, over 10,000 aspartame complaints have been filed with the FDA, yet it is still on the market.

How to Select Your Stevia

Stevia is available in many forms, including crushed green leaves and crude, greenish-brown syrup. These two forms are the most medicinal, but also have the strongest aftertaste.

The liquid form is great for those who are just starting to experiment with stevia because you can easily control the amount you add to beverages and foods. The white powder can be more difficult to work with, resulting in over sweetening your food.

Try stevia as an alternative to sugar. Use it to sweeten green or black tea or lemonade, for example. Experiment and you’ll soon have a nice little repertoire of recipes that will satisfy your sweet tooth without spiking your blood sugar.

On the Body Ecology diet, I recommend taking a step-by-step approach to healing. Replacing refined sugary, high carb foods with a high-quality stevia is a great first step that will start you on your way to healing your entire body.

2 cups of peeled butternut squash, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 cubes

2 cups of yellow onion, large dice

1 1/2 cups of carrots, cut into 1/2 or 1/4 cubes

1 1/2 cups of zucchini, cut into 3/4 cubes

2 T of olive oil

Fine sea salt

1 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups of veg broth

2 T of butter

1/4 t of cumin

1/2 t of coriander

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat couscous or Quinoa – Quinoa can be added spraringly during phase 3.  Couscous in not allowed in phase 3

2 scallions, white and green parts chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place the squash, onion, carrots, and zucchini on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 t of pepper.  Roast for 25 minutes, turning once about midway through with a spatula. 

While the veggies are roasting, bring the veggie broth to a boil in a saucepan add spices and then add couscous or Quinoa and cook per instructions.  Add veggies over the top of cooked couscous or Quinoa and add the scallions to the top and toss.

One of our HCG’er found this helpful for constipation.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/weight-loss-controversy-hcg-diet-pt-1

There are five parts to the segment.  Click on the remainder of the program below the video for the additional parts 2-5.