Eat to Live, Week 1

Last night we ate a soup and salad combination for dinner and I made a batch of hummus dip that turned out great. Along with a recap of yesterday and a preview of today, I will share a few recipes including the hummus dip, and a tuna salad recipe, then finish with a preview of what today has planned with recipes and activities.

ETL Recap: Week 1, Day 3 (Tuesday)

We each ate a small side salad with a dollop of tuna salad on top leftover from the weekend before we started the ETL diet. The homemade fire roasted tomato dressing along with some more baked kale chips rounded out the salad. I also took the Anti-Cancer Soup and ran it through the blender to smooth it out even more, now it has a perfect consistency similar to a nice split pea soup. On the ETL diet you can eat fish up to two times per week, so this tuna is going to be our first portion for the week. By the way, 1 cup of the soup weighed about a 1/2 pound, so 2 cups of this soup will give you the equalivant of the 1 pound of cooked vegetables you are supposed to eat each day. I also garnished the soup with some little heart swirls of the fire roasted tomato dressing, which tasted great in the soup as well. See image below.

Consume at least one pound of raw vegetables and one pound of cooked vegetables each day.

Physical Activity

Last night I spent about 30 minutes playing tennis and bowling on Wii Sports again, then spent an hour in the kitchen preparing the salad, hummus, and pureeing the soup. Once Monique returned from her 30 minute workout at Curves, where she burned 459 calories we then both went on our regular evening neighborhood walk, which was another 30 minutes of good aerobic exercise.

We then watched American Idol last night, and typically when sitting in front of the “idiot” box I am tempted to snack, but since being on this diet, you get to eat all the fruits and vegetables you can fit in your stomach and we have not had any cravings at all. Only a Clementine here or a few dates there, which are included in the diet plan.

Eating healthy and nutritious meals of raw and cooked vegetables satisfies, and results in less cravings for junk food or snacking.

ETL Pre-View: Week 1, Day 4 (Wednesday)

Continuing with our daily morning weight measurements, here are the updates for both of us today:

Ryan: lost another 1/2 pound, and now at 228.5

Monique: lost another 1 pound

Breakfast

Today we ate some oatmeal that I prepared with 1 3/4 cups water, 2 teaspoons of honey, 1/4 cup of raisins, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Monique at about 1/2 cup and I had a cup. On the ETL diet you are limited to 1 cup of whole grains or starchy carbohydrates a day.

Lunch

Today’s lunch Monique has a salad with the fire roasted tomato dressing, a small bag of sliced cucumbers, hummus for dipping, one ounce of walnuts and macadamia nuts mix, an immunity drink and a Clementine. I ate a bowl of the Anti-Cancer soup with some baked kale chips on top, an ounce of the walnuts and macadamia nut mix, and a few dates.

Dinner

Tonight I am going to steam some fresh spinach and cook down some kale with onions and celery. Along with more Anti-Cancer soup and a small side salad that will round out day 4. I may also make a batch of blueberry dressing and some eggplant dip. Indeed, recipes will be forthcoming.

Tonight Monique goes back to Curves for the circuit workout and then we both will walk this evening. In addition, I will also get back on the Wii Sports and will try to get some Wii Fit workout also. It really does work and is so much fun!

Recipes

Tuna Salad Recipe

This tuna salad is really good, and it was left over from the weekend before we started the ETL diet, and using it up soon. Read more…

Hummus Recipe

This one is adapted from the ETL book and is the best I have made from scratch. Not only that, but you should never be buying yours from the store. At $4.00+ per container, you can make a batch for less than half what it costs to buy. Read more…

This tuna salad is a modified variation from the Weight Watchers cookbook, Simple and Classic Home Cooking, and found on page 144. It is a really flavorful tuna salad that we have prepared several times, and tastes great.

Easy to prepare in less than 20 minutes you can serve it between two slices of whole wheat bread and makes a great sandwich along with some sliced tomatoes and crisp lettuce leaves.

This recipe was served on Eat To Live, Week 1 Day 3, and linked from Eat To Live, Week 1 Day 4 of our ETL diet, you can follow our progress at Eat To Live.

We have made hummus years ago, and failed in our attempt to duplicate the smooth and creamy texture found at our favorite middle-eastern restaurant. Last night I accomplished the great task of making some of the best hummus we have ever tasted. Along with some warmed flat or pita bread, or fresh raw vegetables, this hummus is a wonderful dip for any occasion.

For years we have bought hummus in the stores, paying good money too for a cup or two, upwards of $4 – $5, now you can make your own and save lots of money, and at less than half what it costs on the shelves. A pound of dried garbanzo beans at $1.49, a container of tahini at $3.50, and the other ingredients are less than a dollar. We used three cups, or about half of the cooked garbanzos and only three tablespoons of the tahini. The cost for our three cup yield was most likely about a dollar.

Eat To Live Tip
Adapted from the ETL book and found on page 211, here is our modified recipe for hummus. The original recipe calls for cooked or canned garbanzo beans, I prefer to cook them from dried form, because they are much fresher. Also, soaking them overnight speeds up the cooking time, but there is another great bit of information that Dr. Fuhrman mentions in his book. When you soak beans, with the excpetion of lentils, they start to go into a pre-germination state that released more nutrients, and they seem to “come alive” with life giving properties.

Cooking Garbanzo Beans

Just remember to drain the soaking water from the beans, then refresh with new water before cooking. I used cool filtered water to both soak and then cook the garbanzo beans. Just cover the beans with a couple inches of water and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 2 hours.

Another tip, when I blended this together the garbanzo beans were still quite warm from the cooking and draining, I think this helped with them getting smoother in the blender.

This recipe was prepared on Eat To Live, Week 1 Day 3, and linked from Eat To Live, Week 1 Day 4 of our ETL diet, you can follow our progress at Eat To Live.

Eat to Live, Week 1

First, we will share with you a recap of yesterday’s meals and activities, and then a preview of today’s exciting culinary adventures. Along with a recap of yesterday and a preview of today, I will share a few recipes including my modified version of baked kale chips, and my exciting new no oil, extremely low-salt salad dressing. In addition, finish with a preview of what today has planned with recipes and activities.

ETL Recap: Week 1, Day 2 (Monday)

We each ate about a whole pound of salad last night with a homemade dressing and some baked kale chips that added a great crunchy texture in place of what we normally would have with traditional croutons.

An ETL Salad

These salads are about one pound each of greens and vegetables, following in the simple guideline that Joel Fuhrman gives early in his book, “The salad is the main dish”. I had a serving of the Anti-Cancer Soup and salad, while Monique just ate salad. It was very filling indeed. Later in the evening, we both had a snack of a few Medjool dates.

The salad greens were a mixture of Bibb, romaine, and baby spinach, then some broccoli florets, cucumber slices, sliced button mushrooms, tomato wedges, peeled and sliced kiwi fruit. All the ingredients, which weighed over two pounds, with the exception of the tomato wedges and kiwi all coated with a half-cup of Fire Roasted Tomato Dressing.  The coated greens were plated and then the kiwi and tomatoes arranged then garnished with a sprinkling of baked kale chips.  See the recipe links below.

Physical Activity

Last night I spent about 30 minutes playing tennis and bowling on Wii Sports, then spent an hour in the kitchen preparing the salad, dressing, and kale chips. While I was cooking, Monique was cleaning house. We ate dinner, and then Monique and I went for our neighborhood walk, which is typically 30 minutes, then we cleaned house for another hour or so. In all, physical activity accounted for about 2 hours 30 minutes last night. In addition, by 10:00 pm we were bushed.

ETL Pre-View: Week 1, Day 3 (Tuesday)

Continuing with our daily morning weight measurements, here are the updates for both of us today:

Ryan: lost another 2 pounds, and now at 229

Monique: lost another 1 ½ pounds

Breakfast in transition

Today we both ate a Clementine with three Medjool dates, a cup of tea sweetened with 2 teaspoons of honey, and a splash of skim milk, and a half-cup of orange juice. The honey replaces granulated sugar that we used to put in our tea. We are still weaning ourselves from eliminating dairy and fruit juices from the diet, however, Dr. Fuhrman says that slight modifications to the diet depending on individual metabolism is recommended. We will likely start using soymilk in our tea soon in place of the cow’s milk.

Lunch

Today’s lunch is about a half-pound of salad for each of us that was left over from last nights meal, a half-ounce of walnuts with a half-ounce of macadamia nuts, a Clementine, and an immunity drink.

Dinner

Making a batch of hummus tonight and will be serving a half-pound of Anti-Cancer Soup along with a half-pound of salad.

Baked Kale Chips

Yesterday’s post Eat To Live, It Starts you may remember that I had found a great recipe for kale from Smitten Kitchen, well my modified recipe with no oil and no salt came out great. Read more…

Fire Roasted Tomato Dressing

Several weeks ago a shared my Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce and this dressing utilized that very sauce as the base for this excellent tasting salad dressing. Read more…