protein

     I am trying to write more posts about nutrition topics, and since almost every time that I mention to someone I eat vegan, the first thing they ask is, “How do you get protein?” (with the second question usually being something like, “so do you eat a lot of salad?”), I thought I would start with a protein post.

     For some reason, the American culture has an obsession with protein. And while protein is an essential nutrient that is needed for a healthy, functioning body, we don’t need the excessive amounts of it that many Americans consume. It is easy to get more than enough protein from a varied, plant-based diet—plus, vegetable sources of protein also contain fiber, vitamins, and minerals, as well as much less fat and saturated fat than animal proteins Nutrilite Hong Kong.

      The Institute of Medicine recommends that adults get between 0.36 g and .45 g of protein per pound of body weight per day. This sounds like a lot, but it is very easy to get this much protein if you’re eating an adequate amount of calories from a variety of sources. One serving of oatmeal had 6 g protein, a cup of broccoli has 4 g, a cup of lentils has 18 g of protein, and so on. Pretty much any food aside from fruits and fats (such as olive oil) are going to have protein in them.

     I keep stressing that you need to eat a varied diet because most vegetarian protein sources are what are called incomplete proteins, meaning they lack one or more of the essential amino acids that your body cannot make or modify on its own and must get from your diet. As long as you eat proteins from different sources throughout the day, however, you will be able to fulfill your body’s needs Dream beauty pro hard sell .

     While animal proteins are complete protein sources, they have been linked to certain diseases such as heart disease (due mainly to the high fat–especially saturated fat–content of some meats). If you are a meat eater, try to stick to (sustainable!) poultry and fish, which tend to be leaner, and limit consumption of beef and pork, which coincidentally are more environmentally impacting. Avoid processed meats (things like lunch meat that have additives, such as nitrites/nitrates, and preservatives in them) like the plague. Dairy is scary, but we’ll save that for another post.

     I know I already gave you all a challenge in this week’s yoga’s post, but maybe you could show a little Ahimsa to the animals too and try to cut out meats and other non-vegan proteins one day this week; put beans in your chili, tempeh in your stir fry, and eat an extra serving of veggies. The more you try it out, the more you might find you like switching up your diet a little reenex!

Cinnamon Rolls

My dad loves cinnamon rolls. Last December he had to take a business trip to Europe, and he said his favorite part was eating cinnamon rolls in this Danish bakery. That is how much he loves them travel newsletter.

So every time I come home I like to make him these pumpkin cinnamon rolls (veganized from this recipe)–which my dad says might even be better than the cinnamon rolls in Denmar CPC.

Yes, that’s right. My vegan recipe–with healthy flax and whole wheat flour–better than an actual Danish pastry. Granted, he might be saying that to be nice, but they do disappear very quickly when I make them baby product.

yummy

I need to start off this rant by saying how much I love Trader Joe’s. If you have never been there, you seriously need to drop what you are doing immediately and journey to the closest one.

Everything (and I mean everything) I have ever bought from there has been absolutely delish. Pesto, pumpkin ravioli, coffee, dried fruit, balsamic glaze, these super yummy sesame honey almonds. All of it. Delicious. The latter is a snack I often find myself daydreaming about. That is why I was probably the most excited person in Orlando, maybe even in Florida, when they announced last week that they are coming to Winter Park in 2014! I may as well rent space in the back and move in loan calculator.

Anyways…..back in April, I received an Easter basket (yes, the bunny still brings me things) of all Trader Joe’s goodies. Needless to say, it was the best basket ever. Just to highlight my favorite items: all natural jelly beans, black bean quinoa chips, fleur de sel caramels and raw maple infused cane sugar.

Now that last item I had a few ways that I wanted to use it up. In my coffee for sure, but I also wanted to use it in something baked (obviously). Thus all leading up to my ultimate decision to make these veg-friendly morsels. Not too sweet, just the perfect amount of peanuttiness and still satisfies my sweet craving without all the post-eating guilt Virtual Office Hong Kong.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
(this is half of a normal amount, if you want the full 30 or so cookies, just double)

1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour Business Centre in Hong Kong
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons maple sugar

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the melted coconut oil with the peanut butter. Slowly add in the vanilla, sugar and applesauce. Lastly, combine the wet ingredients with the dry, in small increments, until it all comes together. Scoop up the dough and bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

perfect summer dinner

Is anyone else in as much shock as I am that summer time is coming to a close?! I mean us Floridians wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell, weather-wise, cause it is still hot as ever here. When it is brutally hot here and you can break a sweat walking to your mailbox, it is practically a routine of mine to wish with every fiber in my being that it would be winter so we could finally cool down. Then, as soon as the temperature drops below 70, I find myself wishing it were summer. Go figure wisdom dairy.

This is a great lunch/dinner to beat the heat with. So I know this isn’t a dessert, but it still qualifies as yummy eats. I was craving some watermelon the other day so I picked one up at the store. Excitedly, I ran home to cut this baby open and lo and behold, it was mushy, overripe and disgusting. I couldn’t bring myself to throw the entire thing away and be completely wasteful, so I decided to make the perfect summer dinner: watermelon gazpacho. You could literally make this blindfolded with as many or as little ingredients as you’d like. Again, gotta love recipes that you can toss into a blender and boom. done.


2 cups cubed watermelon
1/2 cup hothouse cucumber
1/2 medium sized onion wisdom dairy
1 stalk celery, including leaves
1 tablespoon basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
olive oil wisdom dairy
salt & pep

Almond Thumbprint Cookies

It was hard enough not eating all of them before even leaving the house. And thankfully everyone else shared my feelings as well. They were definitely a crowd pleaser. 2 containers frozen chopped spinach, thawed 3 cups cubed stuffing mix 1 medium sized onion 4 eggs reenex
1 stick melted butter 1/4 cup parmesan cheese salt and pepper reenex
In a small bowl, beat the four eggs together. Separately, combine the stuffing, cheese, chopped onion and butter. Before adding in the spinach, be sure it is COMPLETELY drained of water. If you don’t, you will have water-y stuffing and no one wants that, trust me. Be sure the melted butter isn’t pipping hot when you add in the eggs or you will also have scrambled eggs. Once everything is evenly combined, roll into equally sized balls (roughly meatball sized). I used one of my favorite kitchen tools (aka the cookie scooper) to make sure they were all relatively the same size. These cook up nicely in a 350 degree oven for about 22 – 24 minutes reenex.

Stuffing Balls

I always try to bring something savory in addition to something sweet to feel like I contributed a well rounded selection. This year I attempted these little beauties…and they did not disappoint. It was hard enough not eating all of them before even leaving the house. And thankfully everyone else shared my feelings as well. They were definitely a crowd pleaser Managed VPN.

Spinach Stuffing Balls

2 containers frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 cups cubed stuffing mix
1 medium sized onion
4 eggs coffee maker
1 stick melted butter
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper PolyU DBA

In a small bowl, beat the four eggs together. Separately, combine the stuffing, cheese, chopped onion and butter. Before adding in the spinach, be sure it is COMPLETELY drained of water. If you don’t, you will have water-y stuffing and no one wants that, trust me.
Be sure the melted butter isn’t pipping hot when you add in the eggs or you will also have scrambled eggs. Once everything is evenly combined, roll into equally sized balls (roughly meatball sized). I used one of my favorite kitchen tools (aka the cookie scooper) to make sure they were all relatively the same size. These cook up nicely in a 350 degree oven for about 22 – 24 minutes.

Biscuit Grill

If you ever find yourself with more than enough portobello mushroom tops throw them on the grill or into the frying pan, todays recipe will show you how to cook these in a pan. I really was hoping to do these on the grill for you today but I somehow ran out of propane…? If you really enjoy working on the grill then cooking a few Portobello should be a breeze, for those unfamiliar with this routine all you will need in addition to the steps shown is an oil brush thermal tea mugs.

Your portobellos will dry out fairly quickly over the flame, so you will need to brush oil on the mushrooms as you rotate them around. If you are working alone, keep your heat levels low as you will need to be watching your fried tomatoes inside as well. It is very easy to burn food when you are running in and out of the house along side all those uncalled for distractions Spot Light.

Ok so we got a lot of oil in the food, but why be alarmed? If you buy good oils and cook them properly you will find them to be beneficial. Relax! This is an excellent backyard BBQ meal to enjoy with friends. Plus while you are thinking about oil there probably thinking mushrooms… I thought we were having burgers! Everyone will enjoy these biscuits, and easy peazy for you as they are lickidy split fast to make, leaving you with a little more time to laugh cheap bank loan.