Today my good food choice was...

SusanHG

Gina-good for you and I feel the same way.  Once you've tasted what real food tastes like you wonder how you ever ate the usual American fare.

Out to lunch today with a wonderful group of local BC survivors that I met here.  Going to check out the menu before leave to make my choices before I smell what is cooking

chef127

sagina,

My son purchases it on Amazon. The price went up from 36 to 42 dollars a bag .Not cheap but you get 47 serv. per 2.2# bag. They just come up w one that is vegetable based.

You might want to try ebay. but don't pay more than 42$.

SAB

Egg whites (turmeric and pepper flavored) and strawberries for lunch and for dinner...tada!  Butternut squash soup.  So easy I'm embarrased at putting it off.

Sweat onions in about 2 tbls. olive oil.  Add mongo sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1" cubes (probably 2 1/2 - 3 lbs.) Add about 6 cups of veggie or chicken broth, depending on your preference.  Simmer until very soft, seasoning to taste and then cool a bit and blend in small batches until smooth and creamy.  Adjust thicknessof soup to suit your liking with extra broth.  That's it!

I kept looking up recipes cuz this just sounded too simple, but many were the same.  The most common seasonings I ran across were curry, or thyme and nutmeg. Here is the link to Food Network, with nutritional values:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/butternut-squash-soup-recipe/index.html 

SAB

p.s. the nutritional values are for that recipe with butter, which I omitted.  So, estimate.  I also suggest reading the reviews which were lots of fun, suggesting things like adding pears or apples, sage and using an immersion blender.

CorinneM1

Ceeztheday

No, I have found it at Whole Foods in the frozen foods, Trader Joes with the rest of the bread, and other smaller grocery stores, mostly in the frozen or refridge section. TJs is the only place where I have seen it at room temp, when it really should be frozen or stored cold.  Its expensive, but no flour, organic etc.

I took my 8 year old daughter and her friend out to breakfast today.  I had the most delish riff on eggs benedict.  It was a whole wheat english muffin, topped with sauteed spinash, red onion and green peppers, topped with a poached egg.  I asked for the hollindase sauce on the side, and did use a smidge of it. Had it with melon and grapes.

Kay_G

Mmmmm, Corinne, that sounds good. I don't know what this ezechial bread is. I am going to have to look for it.



Had veggie tacos on soft whole wheat tortillas and a spring and spinach salad. Filled them with black beans mixed with salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, and a little bit of shredded cheese. They were actually delicious and so easy. I am also finding it isn't as hard to eat healthy as I thought. Have a great weekend everyone.

Ceeztheday

Thanks to everyone for the info on Ezekiel bread. Here in south, south, south, south Texas, we only wish that we had Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Lol. Very difficult to find good, organic, natural food. Since it is usually sold frozen, maybe I'll pick up some on my next trip to civilization (San Antonio). Lol.



Have a great Sunday everyone.

Momine

SAB, there are lots of pureed soups you can make that way, veggies, water and seasoning, immersion blender and you are done. For extra flavor, you can  put a ton of herbs/spices in a little greek yogurt and put a dollop of that on top.

CorinneM1

Kay, here is a link to the company that makes it.  I buy it as part of a healthy diet.  Don't care one hoot or another it is has religious or Christian marketing tones.

http://www.foodforlife.com/

FLislander

Hi everyone

I'm going to try to join in with healthy eating

I do have dairy free butternut squash soup recipe, I use the same one for carrot, sweet potato, or squash. Worked at vegetarian restaurant in college years. Problem with that is I used to make 4-5 gallons of soup at a time and would sell out everyday. I'm not real good with measurements.



Whole butternut squash

Usually throw in a sweet potato or carrots just a bit

One onion chopped

One clove garlic

3T olive oil to sautee until onion clear

Shred ginger root about 3T and squeeze juice in

Cover with water and boil til tender

1T salt

Puree add soy milk or cream til right consistency

FLislander

Or vege broth

SAB

Momine-I guess I always expect cooking to be more challenging (I watch too many cooking shows I guess.)  DH added the dollop of nonfat yogurt, said it was delish. It sure was pretty.

This morning I started out with a slice of sourdough toast.  Though approved by anti-cancer as a good food choice, it always feels like cheating. Thoughts?

Momine

Sab, good food does not have to be difficult. If the raw materials are OK, you really don't need to futz with them much. If you have god tomatoes, a simple salad with a little onion, parsley, oil and vinegar can't be beat. Almost all the typical winter veggies make nice soups. Just experiement a little.

Not sure about sour dough. Why is it considered good? 

shells43

Wow, I've been reading your posts. You all are hard core! I've been adding healthy things to my diet like fish, quinoa and taboule, hummus, etc. but I'm having a hard time taking things out like sugar, meat, bread, oy. I can't convince my DH to get with the program and I'm not a great cook. I do have the Cancer Fighting Kitchen cookbook, but some of it is really labor intensive. My favorite recipe there though is the lentil salad that you can chop just about anything into.

So what are the first diet changes you made? Maybe the easiest?? I need some help in this area.

SAB

I have been commited to the anti-cancer diet since September Momine.  My fridge and pantry are undergoing a metamorphesis to reflect the book's recommendations.  (We were relatively healthy eaters before bc, but have made changes to reflect the diet guidelines...luckily my DH and DD are on board with it.) Servan-Schreiber puts sourdough on his list of approved foods, but I just can't figure it out.  I do purchase a multigrain sourdough, but I am so accustomed to going without bread that it feels wrong.  

As far as experimenting goes, I cook roughly 5-6 nights a week and experimenting is all that keeps me sane! We live in CA and stalk the farmer's markets year-round, then let the produce drive the menu. Just trying to find new ideas all the time :-)

Momine

Shelley, my first move was to cut potatoes and white rice. We eat sweet potato and brown rice or quinoa instead. That I had actually done before my diagnosis.

After my dx I have cut out white bread and I try to keep the amount of brown bread down. It is hard for me, because I love bread and always did.  That is also why I aim for reduction not elimination.

If I am out for dinner, I skip dessert most of the time. Again, I do not deprive myself completely, but try to hold back. At home, I don't have anything sweet around, except for very dark chocolate.

SAB

Lunch was steamed mixed veggies with org. chicken breast slices and chili sauce (hidden sugar.)

A couple of clementine oranges, Kashi multigrain pita chips and a tablespoon of white bean hummus for snack. 

Dinner was sweet potato enchiladas in multigrain tortillas, just a touch of cheese, with brown rice and an avocado/tomato salad. 

Momine

SAB, for sugarfree chili sauce, take a couple of fresh chilies, couple cloves garlic, large bunch parsley and blend with enough olive oil to make a smooth, thick sauce. All the ingredients are antiinflammatory, and it tastes good on steamed veggies. Yesterday i had it on falafel.

chef127

Momine,

That chili sauce sounds so yummy and simple.  Falafel is a great food I forgot about. It is classically deep fried. Do you bake it? 

I used to have it with Tahini sauce, turnip pickles, onion, let & tom on Pita......................LOVE IT.

Momine

I fry the falafel in a frying pan with a little oil. No need for deep-frying. Tahini is out and pita is not a great idea either, but we ate the falafel with a tomato salad with onion and parsley and then the chili sauce. It was good. Sometimes I make the falafel from scratch, but my healthfood store has a mix that I keep on hand for days when I don't feel like cooking. You just stir water into it and you are ready to fry them up. 

chef127

I'm just curious, Tahini is out, why? I do get WW pita at a middle eastern bakery.

Homemade falafel is a lot of work. I used to make large batches of it and freeze portions.

AmyIsStrong

I wonder if anyone is concerned about the phytoestrogenic properties in the chickpeas (that make up felafel).  I stay away from soy products, but have just reintroduced tofu once/week. No soy milk or other soy products at all for that reason.  I eat a little hummus but not too much.  Have not had felafel since dx in 2009. It IS delicious though.  For all you ER+ women - your thoughts on this?

chef127

AmylsStrong,

Good point. I do love my chickpeas. Hummus, salads. You can try white cannelini beans if you make your own hummus. or substitute eggplant and make babaGhenouge(sp) Thanx for the heads up on the estro of chickpeas

Falafel is partly fava beans, but they are bitter and may be hard to swallow without the chick peas. I'll have to try it. maybe add a different bean.

Momine

Gah! Now chickpeas are out too???? Tahini is sesame and that is supposedly no good, but I didn't realize that the chickpeas were a no-go too. Bummer!

AmyIsStrong

Wait - i didn't say they were OUT. I said it was something that some women consider. There is a lot of controversy and differing of opinions about whether these weakly phytoestrogenic foods are dangerous or actually beneficial.  I was NOT telling anyone to avoid them - I was just asking for your feedback and position in regard to them. Please don't take my post as instructional - I just wanted some discussion about them.

CorinneM1

Shelly

The easiest for me was to elimate the following:  red meat, pork, processed meats.  Then add in two big helpings of  veggies to every meal, and I make sure that I eat all of the veggies first before anything else.  Also, I don't drink pop anymore and drink lots and lots of green tea and water.  I make sure that every lunch is meatless, and when dining out, I order the vegetarian or fish dish. If I eat chicken or turkey, I want to make sure that it is antibotic/hormone free, so I make this at home.

I haven't given up on dairy, but I rarely drink milk and haven't had yogart. I have organic 1/2 n 1/2 every morning in my coffee.  If I have cereal, its with unsweetened almond milk.  I try to have a 2 pcs of fruit a day.  I haven't given up on desserts entirely, this is the hardest for me.

CorinneM1

Oh!  Good choices today include

1/2 an apple bran muffin for breakfast. I made them. They were awful but I choked down 1/2 of this with a banana.

Large green tea for snack

Red pepper hummas wrap with spinach and tomatoes, melon cup, broccoli salad and orange

Not sure what dinner tonight will be. 

Momine

Yes, sorry, it wasn't meant that way. It just seems like so many foods are possibly a bad idea. It is a bit daunting.

As far as the phyto-estrogens, I am not sure what to think. It seems fairly well accepted that soy is a no-no. It would sort of follow from that that even weak phyto-estrogens should be avoided for the most part. But what do I know. 

SAB

Corinne you crack me up...

I bought some apple cranberry bran muffins at Trader Joes (sweetened with grape juice and fruit) and when I got home I looked them up on Fooducate and they are graded a C- !!  Sigh.

 Tonight is "fend and forage night" at my house so I have nothing to add :-)

SusanHG

Being triple negative, I don't pay much attention to soy, but I have read that it does have protective benefits for breast cancer.  I guess they claim that Japanese women have such low rates due to their high soy intake.  I have heard conflicting opinions on this.  Some say avoid it if e+, some say eat in moderation.  Corinne, You and I are quite similar in our stance to dieting.  Last year, after diagnosis, I was so strict!  I lost 35 pounds, really just ate vegetables and fish, but after a few months found I was being a little too strict, and wanted to live again.  Plus, I was having trouble keeping my fat under 20% (which was recommneded to me by my MO for trip neg.) by just eating vegetarian.  Had I been vegan, it would have worked, but I absolutely cannot go without a small piece of dark chocolate every day.  I now have added chicken and try to keep it mostly organic, and really try to concentrate on eating salads, low fat soups, and sushi mostly.  My biggest obstacle has been to keep my alcohol consumption down to 1-2 drinks per week.  I thought the winter would be easy, but it seems I have been socializing every weekend since the beginning of the year!!  I had three glasses this weekend and feel very guilty about it...

My good food choices:

Yesterday-black bean and rice on whole grain wrap with avocado and tomato,  Dinner-nice piece of salmon with roasted brussel sprouts and mushrooms.  Breakfast-my usual oatmeal with bluberries, PB, chia seeds, and soy milk.  Lunch-tuna tatacki sushi. 

Fooducate?? what's that SAB?  sounds interesting...