• Beets are a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. The detox support provided by betalains includes support of some especially important Phase 2 detox steps involving glutathione. Although you can see these betalain pigments in other foods (like the stems of chard or rhubarb), the concentration of betalains in the peel and flesh of beets gives you an unexpectedly great opportunity for these health benefits.
• Unlike some other food pigments, betalains undergo very steady loss from food as the length of cooking time is increased. For example, one recent study has shown the red betalain pigments in beets to be far less heat stable than red anthocyanin pigments in red cabbage. The difference between 15 minutes of steaming versus 25 minutes of steaming, or 60 minutes of roasting versus 90 minutes of roasting can be significant in terms of betalain damage. For these reasons, we recommend that you keep beet steaming times to 15 minutes or less, and roasting times under an hour.
• An estimated 10-15% of all U.S. adults experience beeturia (a reddening of the urine) after consumption of beets in everyday amounts. While this phenomenon is not considered harmful in and of itself, it may be a possible indicator of the need for healthcare guidance in one particular set of circumstances involving problems with iron metabolism. Individuals with iron deficiency, iron excess, or specific problems with iron metabolism are much more likely to experience beeturia than individuals with healthy iron metabolism. For this reason, if you experience beeturia and have any reason to suspect iron-related problems, we recommend a healthcare consult to follow up on possible issues related to iron status.
• In recent lab studies on human tumor cells, betanin pigments from beets have been shown to lessen tumor cell growth through a number of mechanisms, including inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes (specifically, cyclooxygenase enzymes). The tumor cell types tested in these studies include tumor cells from colon, stomach, nerve, lung, breast, prostate and testicular tissue. While lab studies by themselves are not proof of beets’ anti-cancer benefits, the results of these studies are encouraging researchers to look more closely than ever at the value of betanins and other betalains in beets for both prevention and treatment of certain cancer types. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49

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I decided to make our family a juice this morning instead of a smoothie… Why… Because quite frankly I find it difficult to tolerate the consistency of carrots in a smoothie. They just don’t get liquidy enough in my bullet. And I was in the mood for carrot/ginger. So I whipped out the juicer and started tossing in everything I could find.

Ingredients:

Carrots

Celery

Ginger

Oranges

Apples

Pears

Cucumbers

Result:

Delicious!!!!!!!!!!! I mean wow!!!!!! Don’t get me wrong, I like smoothies a lot and they are definitely a healthier option because they keep all the fiber from the fruits and veggies in the drink. But I must confess that the juice was awesome and easier to swallow. It may however make me hungry quicker because its all liquid. I’ll have to keep you posted on that one.

Downfall:

Juicing for a family of four is no easy task! I forgot to count but I used approximately 10 carrots, 4 long celery sticks, 1 1/2 inches of ginger, 4 pears, 4 apples, 4 small mandarin oranges, and 1/2 a cucumber. And I used the cucumber at the end really when I was trying to finish filling the cup and ran out of other stuff. I made approx 5 8-ounce cups. That doesn’t seem like a lot to me at all since thats our breakfast. The boys and i got 8 oz each and Orlando got 16 oz.

So the conclusion is if you’re going to juice, make sure to stock up on plenty of vegetables and fruits so you don’t run out and get frustrated.

Note: juicing is especially beneficial If you have a cold and need to be drinking lots of fluids. You get all sorts of vitamins and flush out the cold at the same time.

Hi Everyone! 

We came back from our vacation with lots of info and ready to get back into the groove of things. 

We shared a condo with another couple who share a lot in our healthy belief system. We split the groceries in between both families and cooked at home every night. Of course this was the kind of vacation that called for staying in to eat because we would be at the beach all day and had a fully stocked kitchen in the apartment. Once the kids went to sleep we cooked and ate and drank some wine – well, they did; I, true to form, am pregnant once again during vacation! 

As for the meals, we made more exceptions than we at home but that was to be expected. But we are proud to announce that our lifestyle DID IN FACT survive our vacation!!!!!! 

How we cheated:

1. Orlando made chocolate chip pancakes in the morning for the kids. I can’t help myself…I love them!!!!! So on those mornings, I treated myself to the pancakes! 

2. The gang drank alcohol. Orlando normally saves his glasses of wine or scotch for the weekend but since we were at the beach the whole week and it was a like an extra long weekend… they drank every day. 

3. We ate more deli meat. Sandwiches seem to fit well into a day at the beach and although I am not a fan of deli ham because it is processed and usually has corn syrup or high sodium, on this trip, we did have ham and cheese sandwiches on certain days. We tried to buy good quality deli from Publix but nonetheless, we ate it. 

WHERE WE MADE BETTER CHOICES:

1. We ate more WHOLE foods than anything else. 

We bought things like

• eggs
• berries
• bananas
• cherries
• avocados
• tomatoes
• zucchini
• squash
• salad
• mangoes
• nuts
• organic chicken
• extra dark chocolate
• ezekiel bread
• sweet potatoes
• quinoa
• leeks, onions, fresh garlic

2. For dinners we made

• Cabbage Soup one night
• Spinach pasta with ground turkey one night – absolutely delicious – recipe to follow
• Tacos one night – we cheated on the flour tortilla but the contents of the tacos were healthy
• Salad one night
• Steak with sweet potato and vegetables one night 
• Fricase de pollo with Quinoa one night – recipe to follow – made by Yaimy and delicious!

3. For the beach we got creative

• after taking ham and cheese sandwiches one day and feeling that wasn’t too good for us, Yaimy made us some grilled chicken the next morning. We put the chicken in a container and while at the beach we made chicken sandwiches on ezekiel bread. We used ketchup and mayo and mustard, but made sure to buy all ingredients without high fructose corn syrup.
• we hard boiled eggs and cut up avocados and took them to the beach. With a little olive oil and salt it was a fresh delicious treat.
• we cut up a ton of fruit – mangoes, berries, cherries, melon, pineapple…etc. Instead of munching on chips, we munched on fruit. It was nice and cold. 

4. Other things we did:

• chop up zucchini and squash, toss in olive oil and salt and toss in pan until cooked for snack
• Dessert –  a nice piece of dark chocolate
• we took frozen vegetables like peas and carrots and when in a pinch with the kids, we’d steam them for the boys. 
• we also had oatmeal and almond milk for the boys when they were really tired and wanted something quick and easy. 

OVERALL, the vacation was a success. There was a nice balance between having some treats…the last night Yaimy escaped from us and bought a small container of Strawberry ice cream between the kids and us we all had a little cup 🙂 

but not forgetting to eat our vegetables and fruits. We avoided most of the junk that people eat during vacations – chips, sweets, sodas, processed foods…etc. 

We did buy 2 bags of Pita chips to snack on but they didn’t have a major role in the vacation. I actually ended up throwing almost a full bag away at the end. 

Surprisingly, we didn’t make any smoothies throughout the vacation. We ate heavier breakfasts since we were going to be at the beach all day and then there just wasn’t an opportunity to make them later on. We’ll explore that next time!!!!! 

It used to be (for us) that when we went on vacation, we left everything behind, including whatever diet we may be on. I mean, really,it’s our vacation… We should be able to enjoy ourselves. We work too hard to deprive ourselves from what we like on one of our rare moments of freedom!!!!!!

Well I sit in my balcony overlooking the ocean realizing that as I approach my 1 year anniversary of the day I began my journey to get healthy (July 19)… for the first time in my life… I actually brought my lifestyle on this trip! What a concept.

Biggest factor: I am on a beach vacation and I can do groceries. I think that’s pretty huge. But on my previous beach trips, our shopping list would be filled with chips, dip, cereal, cookies, sodas, and “easy” stuff. This time around, we split our groceries with ouR dear friends and we bought things like fruits, salad, quinoa, natural peanut butter, real jelly, Ezekiel bread, and vegetables. We made sandwiches for the beach but used Ezekiel bread and good quality deli meat. We took fruits such as mangoes, grapes, berries, and mandarin oranges. We have cabbage soup and lentil soup and eggplant lasagna on the menu for dinners.

I just came up to my apartment to put my kids down for nap and I made myself this delicious salad:

I used organic girlgreens,mandarins, carrots, tomatoes, almonds, craisins, a little leftover chicken that we had for dinner last night, avocados, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and my vacation treat: manchego cheese!!!!! Yummy.

I devoured my salad and it was delicious.

That being said, this morning my hubby made chocolate chip pancakes for the kids and us. We love pancakes and Orlando thinks its a nice tradition to make pancakes in the mornings on weekends or vacations. We used dark chocolate chips,but other than that they weren’t particularly healthy. And that’s ok with us!!! Because it’s a worthwhile treat for us and we are not dieting. I think it’s beautiful and significant that we don’t have to give up every guilty pleasure that we enjoy. But we exercise discretion and moderation and it makes us happier, healthier people and teaches our kids to have positive feelings towards food. They can enjoy a pancake in the morning and have delicious fruits and veggies for lunch. It’s all about balance. Ishould note that Orlando made the delicious pancakes but did not eat them. He doesn’t really likebreakfast foods and pancakes just aren’t worth it to him. So he doesn’t put food in his mouth thats not worth it to him. Instead he will treat himself to some wine while he plays dominoes on the beach because that is something he enjoys. We all have to pick and choose the things we really enjoy instead of indulging on anything just because it’s in front of our face. That is a valuable lesson he has taught me.

As for tomorrow morning, we have our bullet ready for some delicious smoothies and we’ll continue to enjoy our vacation healthily and happily. We’ll keep you posted!

We are on the road heading towards our vacation spot for a week. Thought we’d share with you what snacks we took with us for the road.

We chose these raw veggies because they are easy and not messy. The ranch makes them yummy and it’s a nice treat although orly (my 3 yr old prefers them without the ranch)

We also brought a fruit bowl and water in our cooler. We also put some cheese sticks for the boys. It keeps us satisfied while we’re in the car and beats stopping at a fast food place.

Lots of people have asked me what are the staples we have in our home and what we do for meal planning. I have to confess…my situation might be a little different from most other people because my husband likes to cook dinner and therefore he goes to the grocery store every evening to choose what he’s going to make for dinner. Yes, Orlando goes to the grocery store almost every single day. THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!!!! This has it’s benefits because we tend to eat fresh foods instead of frozen foods, and because I can always have Orlando pick up something we need, but this doesn’t work for everyone…I, for example, would NOT go to a grocery store every day!

This being said…we do have staples in our home, and as time has gone by, we have started planning our meals much more than we used to in the past. Plus, the daily grocery visits only have to do with dinner. We buy at BJ’s, Costco, or any other grocery store for the week food for our breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.

STAPLES FOR YOUR KITCHEN

SPICES- One of the things Dr. Sanchez has told me is the importance of consuming different spices. Spices and herbs are supposed to have incredible healing powers and its really so easy to add them to your meals while cooking.

• Turmeric
• Coriander
• Cumin
• Cinnamon
• Ginger root
• Garlic cloves

TURMERIC, CORIANDER, & CUMIN: These spices are relatively new to our diet. I had never even heard of Turmeric until I met an Indian nurse who told me about it. I had always heard that Indian food was medicinal. This nurse told me that Indians season their meats in the United States with Turmeric to kill the pesticides. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I researched the benefits of Turmeric and found tons of literature. We incorporate spices such as Turmeric and coriander to most of our meals now, including our soups, our chicken, and anywhere else we can sneak it in. And we ALWAYS have it at the house ready to use. You can google the health benefits of any of these spices and take a look for yourself. Here are some articles I found interesting.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/turmeric-health-have-a-happy-new-year_b_798328.html

http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-coriander.html

http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/seed-and-nut/health-benefits-of-cumin.html

Ginger -I love having these 2 staples in our home because they add a delicious taste and are also so good for you. Ginger is supposed to help with headaches, swelling, digestion, common colds, etc. I put a little ginger in our smoothies in the morning. I don’t juice very often but I LOVE juicing carrots, ginger, and oranges. IT is delicious!!!!

CAVEAT: A little ginger goes a LONG way. I tend to buy a small root so it doesn’t go to waste. You only need put a little bit like half an inch when you’re incorporating it into your meals or smoothies. Otherwise it will overpower your meal and you will hate it! So make sure you err on the side of caution and start very small. Then you can add more and see what your palette and your family’s can tolerate.

Fresh Garlic – we love to roast our Garlic. It squeezes out like butter and has a sweetness to it. Its absolutely delicious in recipes. We used it when we tried our red beet soup and started incorporating it into other meals. We also chop up the raw garlic and use it as a base for soups, stir fries, chicken, etc.

The more herbs and spices you can cook with, the better. We are just giving you some we always have at the house.

FRUITS AND VEGGIES- In this department we go crazy because most of our daily diet consists of fruits and Vegetables. Since we order from a coop, Annie’s Buying Club, we get a box of fruits and vegetables every 2 weeks that forces us to cook vegetables that we’re not really familiar with. Our cabbage soup, which is now a weekly meal in our home, came from getting a head of cabbage in this box that we didn’t know what to do with. We’ve also discovered other jewels like eggplant lasagna, and beet soup.

But the weeks we don’t have that box, we stick to a few basics that we know we love.

FRUITS-

• bananas
• organic apples
• pears
• organic grapes
• organic strawberries
• organic blueberries
• organic  raspberries
• melon – watermelon or cantaloupe
• mango
• tomatoes – some think this is a vegetable but its a fruit. I like to add it to my salads or for with balsamic vinegar for snack.
• kiwi
• peaches
• oranges
• Pineapples
• frozen organic berries
• any other frozen fruits

 VEGETABLES-

• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Leeks
• Green beans
• Organic Girl Greens
• squash
• zucchini
• sweet potatoes
• butternut squash
• onions
• mushrooms
• carrots
• avocados
• kale

AGAIN, we don’t necessarily have all these at the house at the exact same time. The food we eat is perishable and therefore we buy with caution. We don’t buy more than we know we can consume. The week we get our box we eat the veggies in the box and sometimes buy some additional veggies if a recipe calls for it. The week we don’t have our box we usually make cabbage soup one night a week (recipe in prior post) which requires a lot of veggies, asparagus and leeks (a combination we love) once a week. Steamed broccoli once a week. Sweet potato once a week (this serves as our carb and we have another green vegetable on the plate like green beans, broccoli, asparagus, etc.)

We also like to make a vegetable stir fry once a week where we add a ton of veggies and no animal protein (recipe to follow in another post).

Raw veggies and Leftovers – I tend to use as much of our veggies as I can in our daily salads. I usually break a couple of pieces of broccoli from and toss in the salads. I use a peeler to peel the carrots. Instead of baby carrots or pre-cut carrots, I like the thin strips of carrots that I get with the peeler in our salads. I switch up the greens from Organic Girl. They have a super greens box which I like a lot. other times I get the 50/50 mix and sometimes I get just Spinach. They’re all good and I try different ones simply for variety. If I have leftover stir fry from the evening before or red beets that we roasted, I pack it up in a separate container. Then at lunch time I heat it up and sprinkle on top of my salad. I like adding hot food to my salads once in a while and the veggies are a nice mix.

FOR MY SMOOTHIES-  I always have kale, collard greens, or watercress for my smoothies. I love adding other ingredients which I will discuss in other posts but I have those as staples. When I run out of these, I can always grab some greens from my organic girl box and use that instead.

MEAT AND FISH-

• Organic chicken
• Wild caught Salmon
• Turkey picadillo

I find organic chicken at Costco. I usually buy dark meat for the boys because it is softer and easier to eat. And I buy boneless chicken breast for us.
I buy wild salmon at Whole foods. I wait for the sale, sometimes they have it at $9.99 per pound and they’ve even gone as low as $7.99. When they have this sale, I buy tons of it. and store it in my freezer. Then I leave it out to defrost and eat it for dinner once a week.

We usually eat chicken, salmon, and turkey picadillo each once a week and the other nights eat soup or stir fry and try to go without animal protein or fish. But from time to time, Orlando goes to Captain’s tavern (a fish market by our home) and buys a nice sea bass, or shrimp for us. And once in a while we have a new york strip. We have red meat maybe once a month and its usually on a Friday as a treat for us.

NUTS AND SEEDS-

Nuts and seeds are a great snack because they are portable. Its probably one of the only things we have that we can put in a ziplock baggie and take with us anywhere, or keep at our desks.

• sunflower seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• raw almonds
• raw pecans
• walnuts
• sliced almonds
• raw cashews
• macadamian nuts
• pistachios

I always have nuts in my bag in case i’m starving and i’m driving home or at my desk and ran out of food. I don’t spend all day snacking on nuts by any means, but I do probably eat them once a day.

I try to incorporate these into our salads as well as for snacks. I usually put walnuts, sliced almonds, and pecans in our salads. Sometimes I put the sunflower seeds in our salads also. I love adding crunch to our salads!

Dairy-

• almond milk
• grassfed cow’s milk
• oikos yogurt
• cage free eggs
• organic unsalted butter

I personally don’t eat yogurt. Its a texture issue for me. But my kids love it so I give them a yogurt every day. Orly drinks one cup of cow’s milk in the morning usually and I have one cup of the milk to make my cafe con leche. That’s it for our milk consumption. Justin doesn’t drink cow’s milk because he’s allergic to it so I give him almond milk, goat’s milk, or rice milk.

I use almond milk with my oatmeal.

I always have eggs in our house because I make hard boiled eggs in batches. Then I put them in our salads, with avocados (Recipe in prior post) or by themselves.

Grains and Beans – Grains and beans are really the only items we buy that have a longer shelf life and don’t have to be consumed within the week. I go to whole foods and buy grains and beans such as

• Millet
• Barley
• Quinoa
• Germinated brown rice
• steel cut oats.
• black beans
• red beans
• lentils.

I keep these in containers at the house. Then we have them in case we need them. Sometimes I make a batch of quinoa and use it for dinner one night,and for lunch for the boys the next day, etc. I do the same thing with all the other grains. We do not eat grains every day. We make lentil soup once every week or two weeks. And we always make enough to have leftovers.

I love making steel cut oats and storing it for breakfast for the boys. I sweeten it up with some vanilla extract and cinnamon.

CAVEAT: Sometimes we need to be practical. As much as I love steel cut oats, I always keep the little microwaveable oatmeal packets at my office or at home. I love these little packets because again they are portable and if I’m in a pinch in the office, I make myself a little oatmeal packet. And of course sometimes my kids want oatmeal in the mornings and I don’t have any more of my steel cut oats batch so I make them a quick packet with almond milk.

My motto is I try my best to eat as healthy as possible, but we have to always be prepared for when we are in a rush and eat as best we can in those situations also.

Other staples-

• liquid stevia
• natural peanut butter
• a good jelly made of pure fruit and with no preservatives
• ezekiel bread
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• coconut oil

We try to cook with coconut oil as frequently as possible to avoid altering the olive oil properties. I use olive oil for salads and to drizzle on other foods.

I think this is a pretty comprehensive list of the items we keep in our home. We use to have things like wheat crackers and deli meats, and slices of processed cheese. We have eliminated those foods from our diet. But as I’ve said before, we buy what we eat. We don’t typically have food sitting in our shelves, fridge or freezer for long periods of time. Sometimes I buy something different like Mint. And then I spend the whole week making different recipes with mint. I will post about all those things along the way, but at least this is a good starting guide for what to look for in your grocery stores.

Please let me know via comments or email if you have questions, suggestions, or if this is a helpful list for you.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!! 

Most people’s weakness is dessert. They can do well most of the day…eat healthy, avoid temptation…but its when that cake comes out at work to celebrate someone’s birthday or that delicious dessert menu pops up after dinner… it is so hard to resist!!!!

Especially if you’ve been avoiding sugar all week and are suffering from withdrawals. We all need a sugar fix once in a while.

I am not tempted by all sweets. You can offer me cheesecake or flan or a key lime pie and I will pass without suffering. But I did have a weakness, like we all do. Chocolate chip cookies and Nutella. I could literally eat 10 chocolate chips in a row or a bowl of Nutella and be happy. Not to mention the raw chocolate chip cookie dough without the chips. When I started this journey, I felt sad to think I was giving up these yummies. No more half baked Ben and Jerry’s ice cream on Friday nights. 🙁

Well, my doctor told me that chocolate is actually GOOD for you! What a concept! Something that is so delicious is good for me? Well it is, but there’s a catch…what’s bad isn’t the chocolate…its all the milk and sugar and corn syrup and extra stuff they add to it to make it sweet. You see raw chocolate is actually quite bitter. So my doctor suggested that I try dark chocolate. Anything over 72% cacao.  I went to Walgreens and bought myself a Ghirardelli’s 72% chocolate bar. Brought it home and gave a square to Orlando and one for myself. We sat there in silence with this bitter piece of chocolate on our tongues…and the craziest thing happened!!!! When you let it sit on your tongue, instead of chewing it up and swallowing right away, the flavors of the chocolate start coming alive! After a couple of minutes we actually started enjoying it. I decided I would allow myself anywhere from 1 to 3 little squares per evening to satisfy my sweet tooth.

AND THERE BEGAN OUR DARK CHOCOLATE OBSESSION!

We started experimenting with darker chocolates and after trying several different ones have grown to love 85% Dark Chocolate. Our favorite brand is called GREEN AND BLACK ORGANIC 85% CHOCOLATE.  We also like the Ghirardelli 85%. We treat ourselves every evening for dinner. The truth is that we’ve  grown to love it so much that now if we taste milk chocolate, its actually too sweet for us. At least in my case, it has eliminated my desire for other sweets. I’ve even gone as far as taking a bar in my purse when I’m going out to dinner or to a family event…so when dessert comes out I can have my piece of chocolate. I don’t do this to be psycho! I do it because in the situations I haven’t done it and I’ve eaten the cupcake or other sweet, my stomach aches a little and I regret it soon after.

Of course these chocolates still contain sugar. In the organic one they put the evaporated cane juice…but it is sugar. But life is about BALANCE. And it is much better to have 15% of sugar added than 60-70%. And the cacao has great benefits for your body…and at least in my case…chocolate makes me happy! So I think its a great option. Since we eat it every night, we really don’t feel like we are depriving ourselves from the sweet stuff. And at the very beginning, it really got me through the drastic change my body underwent in eliminating so much sugar from my daily diet.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that one day you can’t have cake at a party, or treat yourself to a key lime pie. We all need moderation. But I think if you give the dark chocolate a try, it might reduce the anxieties that come from craving something sweet and help you avoid the bad stuff much more often.

If any of you have already begun this dark chocolate transition, please comment and let us know what your experience has been.

Have a sweet day!