http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guEt0iYCcLM&feature=player_embedded

12 oz Swiss Chard (1 small bunch)

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped (1.5 Cups)

2 medium carrots (1 Cup)

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 to 4 tsp minced seeded chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (can be found in the Hispanic section of the supermarket.  Remove veins and seeds for less heat)

1 tsp dried oregano

6 Cups lower sodium chicken broth

1 lb boneless chicken breast halves

½ C long grain brown rice or quinoa

2 avocados, cubed

lime wedges

• Remove stems from chard, slice into 3/8 inch pieces.  Coarsely chop leaves (about 6 slightly packed cups)
• Heat oil in large pot over medium heat until hot.  Cook chard stems, onion and carrots 5 – 7 minutes or until softened, stirring frequently.  Add garlic, chiles and oregano; cook and stir 20-30 seconds or until fragrant.  Add broth, chicken and rice, bring to a boil.
• Turn chicken; reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and rice is tender.  Remove chicken, cool slightly
• Add chard leaves to pot.  Increase heat to medium; cook, uncovered 3-4 minutes or just until chard is tender.
• Meanwhile, shred chicken into bite size pieces; return to soup. Garnish each serving with avocado and lime wedges.

*Lean Chicken Breast with Broccoli

*Salmon with Spinach

Snack Ideas:

*Apple & nut butter

*Almonds and some fruit

2.  Cut out all sugars and anything white. ie:

*Incorporate more brown rice or brown rice pastas or bread such as Ezekeiel Bread, which you should be able to find at most health foods stores.

3.  Make sure you have a combination of both strength training and intervals into your fitness routine. 

*These do not need to be a long hour of workouts. Any of the Boot Camp workouts are 45 minutes or less. My clients did a 25 minute fat blasting workout in the pouring down rain and felt exhausted after that short of time. Why spend hours in the gym when you can get the same results in 30 minutes or less!

4.  Find some form of support system.

*Having people around you who are supportive will help keep you motivated and working even harder. Join our Boot Camp group to get the support you need!

5.  Make it FUN! 

*Exercise does not have to be boring! There are lots of ways to make it enjoyable! We workout at a local Park. We get to enjoy the different scenery and we have to be creative to figure out what exercises we could do! Plus being outside always is much more enjoyable than being inside.  How fun is it on the treadmill?

Avocado – contains a high amount of fruit oil. Fruit is a rare element giving high food energy value. Contains no starch, little sugar and very few carbohydrates, 14 minerals, all of which regulate body functions and stimulate growth.

Beets – High vitamin A, good for eliminative system and also digestive system.

Broccoli – High in vitamin A and C. Low in calories. Best if eaten with proteins because the combination helps drive amino acids to the brain.

Carrots - The most neutral of all vegetables. So high in vitamin A it has been used extensively to improve eyesight and as a general body builder.

Cauliflower – A sulphur vegetable is more easily digested than cabbage, but is high phosphorus content means it is gas – forming.

Celery – An alkaline, protective food, aids digestion, counteracts acidosis, halts fermentation and purifies the bloodstream. It can help clear up high blood pressure. One of the best foods for keeping the body well, celery can be a brain tonic, and the sodium in it will neutralize acids in the body. The leaves are rich in potassium, sodium sulphur.

Corn – one of the easiest foods to digest and one of the beast balanced starches. Yellow corn is high in magnesium, a wonderful bowel regulator, bone and muscle builder and an excellent food for brain and nervous system.

Cucumber – alkaline, non-starchy, cooling effect on the blood. A wonderful digestive aid, purifying effect on the bowel and very beneficial to the skin.

Greens – Are the healers of the body. They bring in chlorophyll, carotene and calcium, all important to the healing process.

Garlic – An internal antiseptic, it contains allylic sulphides, which work by waxing chemicals inside cells.

Kale – Very high in calcium, vitamin A and iron. Builds strong teeth, an is beneficial to digestive and nervous system.

Red Pepper – Peppers are classified as a protective food because they contain so many elements that build up resistance. Best eaten raw, they are very high in vitamin C. they contain vitamin A, which makes our tissue more resistant, especially to colds and catarrhal infections in the respiratory organs, sinuses, ears, bladder, skin and digestive tract and Vitamin B, aids in food absorption and normalizes the brain and nervous system by increasing metabolic processes.

Seeds - Food that have seeds are the greatest foods for us. Seeds are the glands of the plant. Foods with seeds help us nourish the glands, nerves, and brain. Pumpkin seeds in the diet may actually prevent cancer in the prostate.

Snap Beans - Beans, especially green beans, are an alkaline vegetable. Beans are high in protein and essential on a vegetarian diet.

Spinach – an excellent source of vitamin C and A, and iron, contains about 40 percent potassium. It leaves an alkaline ash in the body. Good for lymphatic, urinary, and digestive systems.

Sprouts – Very high in silicon. They come from seeds that contain all the elements necessary for life, and when they first begin to sprout they are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes and prostaglandins.

Squash – all squashes are low in calories, high in fiber and easily digested. Great for the eliminative system, they produce absolutely no gas in the intestinal tract. Winter squash contains more vitamin A than summer squash.

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/oct/051000folic.htm

August 2003: Plants, not Pills, for Vitamins and Minerals

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/030800puvitaminsandminerals.htm

November 2004: Vitamins Do Not Prevent Cancer and May Increase Likelihood of Death: How Supplements Can Make You Sicker

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/2004nl/041100pufavorite5.htm

July 2005: Neither Aspirin Nor Vitamin E Will Save Women

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/july/050700fav5.htm

February 2004: Treating Homocysteine with Vitamins Fails

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/040200pufavorite5.htm

 
Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, Gluud C.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17327526&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum  

High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Not off the Hook Yet

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) — once considered the “Frankenfood” fueling America’s obesity epidemic — recently earned a presidential-style pardon. The American Medical Association concluded last June that this much-maligned sweetener is no worse than sugar. Recently, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a group of noted nutrition experts who’ve studied this processed sweet stuff agreed. Even if you don’t read medical journals or follow the headlines, you’ve probably seen those pro-HFCS commercials — paid for by the Corn Refiners Association — that feature smiling moms reassuring one another that HFCS is perfectly safe and natural. Natural? So is cyanide. Not that HFCS is the equivalent of cyanide. But we don’t think HFCS has a clean bill of health. Even if it were the same as sugar, who says sugar is a great item to add to food? Further, almost all of the reports that found HFCS to be the same as sugar were funded by groups that profit from selling HFCS, including soda makers. And we believe that the studies don’t answer everything. The most important question remains: Do big doses of fructose trigger obesity in ways that go beyond all those excess calories? Yes, we said fructose. We don’t mean the quantities found in fresh fruit, which come packaged with fiber and lots of nutrients. We’re talking about the nutritionally empty megadoses added to soda, commercial sweets, and baked goods. And we’re also talking about all the little hits you’re getting from foods that don’t even seem sweet, such as ketchup and salad dressing. A growing stack of research suggests that getting too much fructose in your diet interferes with leptin — an important digestive-system hormone that tells your brain you are full and should stop eating. In a new University of Florida lab study, animals that ate a high-fat, high-calorie diet that was also high-fructose became leptin-resistant and gained more weight than animals that ate a similar diet, minus the fructose. Truth is, HFCS isn’t the only source of excess fructose in the American diet. Table sugar has roughly equal amounts of fructose and glucose. HFCS comes under such fire because the food industry has been pumping more and more of it into foods since the 1970s. Why? It’s cheap, it mixes easily into beverages, and it enhances flavor and shelf life. The result: We eat 1,000 times more HFCS now than when Nixon was president — an average of 63 pounds a year! Plus, we’re eating and drinking more sweets than ever before. As a result, 10% to 12% of our daily calories now come from added fructose, according to researchers from Emory University. Obesity isn’t the only hazard, of course. Other research suggests HFCS and sugar raise diabetes risk. The bottom line: Getting the obvious, and not so obvious, sweeteners out of your diet will save you hundreds of calories a day — and remove a substance that could be flipping metabolic switches without your permission. Here’s how to do it: Say no to soda and other “liquid candy.” The calories alone are enough reason to stop: A single 18-ounce soda, sweet iced tea, or fruit drink can pack 200 or more calories — courtesy of the 15 teaspoons of sugar-like sweetener, usually HFCS, these beverages contain. Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston found that teenagers who stopped drinking sugary beverages lost a pound a week without making any other changes in their diets. If you’re breaking a serious soda habit, transitioning to an artificially sweetened, zero-calorie version is a good stepping stone on your way to healthier drinks — as in water, unsweetened tea, black coffee, or skim milk. Rein in that sweet tooth. Candy and commercial baked goods — including cookies, pies, and cakes — account for 30% of the fructose in the American diet (and the booming sales of supersized hospital gowns). Read labels to find hidden HFCS. Check for HFCS (as well as other sweeteners you don’t need, like rice syrup) on the ingredients lists of all the processed foods you buy. You’ll find it in many breads, sweetened yogurts, and condiments. Buy only the brands without ‘em — or that don’t have them in the first five ingredients. Once you start label watching, you’ll see that HFCS is everywhere. Except, we hope, in your kitchen.

2 oz. of Halloumi or Queso Blanco for frying, cut into large cubes or slices

1 Package of Shirataki Angel Hair

1⁄2 Red Bell Pepper, sliced

1⁄2 Green Bell Pepper, sliced

1⁄2 Yellow Bell Pepper, sliced

1⁄2 Onion, cut into chunks

1 Cup of Mushrooms (optional)

2 Cloves of Garlic

1⁄4 Cup of Chicken Stock

Pepper to Taste

Italian Spices (I love Pasta Sprinkle from Spice House in the Public Market)

Olive Oil

Directions: Heat oil over medium heat. Add cheese to pan. Once browned on one side, flip over the cheese. Add all the peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms. Pour the chicken stock into the pan. Prepare noodles according to package directions while the veggies cook. Once the veggies sweat and are cooked, but are not soggy, add the noodles to the pan. Sprinkle the Italian spices to taste. Use a large fork or tongs to mix everything together.

This is a great vegetarian dish as a meal or to accompany weeknight meals.

2 tsp unsalted butter

2 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp)

1-3 inch cinnamon stick

1 C jasmine rice, rinsed and drained

¾ C light coconut milk

½ tsp agave nectar syrup

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp grated lime zest

1/8  tsp white pepper (black will work as well)

¼ C toasted shredded, unsweetened coconut (optional)

Melt butter in saucepan over medium low heat. Add ginger garlic, cinnamon stick and sauté 1 minute or until fragrant.  Stir in rice and sauté for 2 minutes or until rice grains are opaque.  Add coconut milk, agave, salt, lime zest, pepper and ¾ C water and bring to a simmer.  Stir once, cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Fluff rice with fork, cover and let rest for 5 minutes.  Garnish with toasted coconut, if using.  

Mixed Vegetable Soup

The night before, cut up all veggies that you wish to include in this soup and store in a zip loc baggie.  In the morning, combine all the ingredients into a slow and let it cook for you all day, on low (7-9 hours) or high for at least 5 hours

Ingredients:

1 yellow or white onion, peeled and sliced

6 large Roma tomatoes washed and diced or 1-28 oz can organic diced tomatoes

3-4 teaspoons fresh or dried herbs:  any mixture of sage, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, garlic  (Italian seasoning is a great choice and it’s mixed for you already!)

Salt and pepper to taste

3-4 Cups organic – gluten free vegetable broth or water (enough to cover the vegetables

4 Cups of various vegetables

Carrots, celery, potato, green beans, zucchini or summer squash, broccoli, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, fresh or frozen peas.  Peppers add a nice kick to it if you can digest them.

If you are using a Dutch Oven or large soup pot.  Heat some olive oil in the bottom and sauté the sense vegetables first until softened, then add fresh or canned tomatoes, soft vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper.  Add the broth and/or water.  Add more water or broth for a thinner soup or less for a stew.