Recipe: Egg & Gluten Free Baked Zucchini Crisp

I have been trying to think of creative dishes to make for my family that are gluten free, dairy free and egg free.  Something that is wonderful to have discovered is the wealth of GF flours out there - my favorites being coconut flour and almond flour.  The coconut flour has a great taste, but it doesn't substitute well for all-purpose flour - something in how it mixes and stuff.  I dunno, I'm not a baker.  Almond flour does much better.  Garbanzo flour works better, as does Buckwheat flour, but they both have strong tastes.  Bob's Red Mill has a huge selection.

That said, the trick has always been how to get it to bind - for example when breading chicken breast with it.  Eggs work like magic, but I am trying to avoid them in my cooking due to some allergies I'm working around (not for me, but one of the people I'm cooking for).  I've learned of flax eggs, and have tried those.  They're great, but don't see to work with breading.  Why?  Unlike an egg, flax eggs don't solidify when heated.  They're more like gluey stuff than anything.

So, this recipe came together almost by accident, but it's fantastic, and I have to share it.  It was my attempt at making zucchini latkes (since potatoes are out for me and my wife's diet, and I'd rather give my son something more nutritious than white starch).  I made the mixture below, tried to fry it but failed.  What I came up with instead is so much better than the latkes would have been.  My mistake is your benefit...and my wife's, who loves this stuff.

Ingredients

• 4-6 zucchini (I prefer organic), peeled and grated, then pressed in a strainer to get as much water out as possible - the more the better
• 2 flax eggs (each egg is: grind 1 table spoon of flax seeds and add 1 table spoon of water, stir, let sit and thicken, stirring occasionally - don't hesitate to add a touch more water until it has almost (but slightly thicker) the consistency of a raw, beaten egg) 
• 1-2 tablespoons of minced garlic - go with your taste preference
• 1-1.5 cups of almond flour (the amount will depend on how much zucchini you use, and how wet it is)
• Seasoning to taste per your preference (I used turmeric and sea salt, chopped cilantro, and would also throw in a touch of cayenne if this was just for me and not my wife and 4 year old)

Directions

• Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, really working it through with your hands so there are no areas of flour or flax egg bunched up, nor any zucchini left out of getting coated
• Spread onto a cookie sheet with some tin foil that you lightly coated with olive oil (this is healthier than using a Teflon coated cookie sheet, but do as you like); spread it so that it isn't too thick across or high/deep, this will ensure it gets crisped throughout. A trick I figured out was to leave a gap in the middle so you get more 'edges'.
• Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, and check on it.
• Keep baking until it's got a nice brown color around the edges, and has started to get more golden throughout. This will vary by oven, cookie sheet, thickness of the spread, etc. The first time I made it, it took 20 minutes.  The second time took 27.
• There's no such thing as over or under cooked. You aren't using raw egg, so there's zero health risk to undercooking, so you're really going for the level of crisp that you want. That said, crispier is better.  If you like it less crispy, you're wrong. Stick it back in and cook it longer. :)

That's it. This is such a fortuitous mistaken discovery. Enjoy, and make your own cooking attempts, failures and triumphs as you enlighten.your.body.

Recipe: Green Eggs

I've given a lot of breakfast advice over the past couple of years with a focus on getting 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking (read this Q&A post for some thoughts on the matter). This seems to be a real sticking point for people who aren't used to eating breakfast, or, if they are, they eat something fast, cold and simple (bagel, cereal, muffin, etc). The idea of cooking breakfast sounds way too hard, and the idea of having eggs every morning sounds way too unhealthy.  You have it backward in terms of the health point.  As for it being hard, yeah, you've got me there.  The good news is, I have a solution.

How is it that I eat a multi-ingredient omelet every morning around 5am without making so much noise that I wake up my whole household? How do I do it without having to cook on top of trying to workout, do some work, shower, get dressed and get out the door to get to my office?  The answer is really simple - I cook the omelet at night, and employ my economics undergrad degree a bit by leveraging economies of scale.  In non-dork terms, I make more than one omelet at a time.  Sometimes, I don't even make an omelet, but do more of a fritada so I can just stick it in the oven for 20 minutes and not even have to think about it (or clean the dish for a few days).

OK, here's the deal. You need an egg for each day you're cooking for, some egg whites, powdered greens (optional, but highly recommended since they're SO good for you), spinach, onions or scallions, chia seeds, mushrooms, cayenne, salsa, sea salt, a kitchen sink and anything else you want in your omelet. Be sure to skip cheese, milk and anything you don't want in your omelet.  I tend to make enough for five or six breakfasts, so I use that many whole eggs, and then probably another cup to two cups of egg white added in.

Start with cracking the eggs into a bowl.  Add a scoop of greens for each day's worth of breakfast (e.g. five scoops for five breakfasts).  I find stirring the greens in after each scoop is best for avoiding clumps. A mini whisk is ideal, but I fork will work ok.  If you get some lumps, don't worry too much, but generally try to minimize how many lumps you get. Also add any seasoning (salt, cayenne) at this point. After you have all the greens in, add in your egg whites, and stir it all together some more to help mix it and break down any remaining lumps.

In a sauce pan, sauté the veggies a bit as they won't cook sufficiently for most people's taste once in the egg mixture. Add the spinach (or kale, if you like) half way through.  Sprinkle chia seeds on top, and then pour the eggs in.  If you're doing this in a quiche dish as a frittata, pour the veggies into the dish, spread them, and then sprinkle on the chia seeds.  Chia seeds are a great source of fiber and energy. They're good to work into your diet, and this is an easy way to do so. A nice optional ingredient is salsa or pico de gallo. Just drain the liquid off, or let it burn off during the cooking process. Tomatillo sauce is also a nice addition. Really, just play around to suit your preferences and taste, and to help differ things from week to week.

Next, pour in the egg mixture. If it isn't enough to cover the veggies, add some more egg white.  I felt like a little more spinach was in order, so I pressed some down into the mixture, but that's basically it.  You can cover it and let it cook on medium or medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes (until the middle isn't liquidy), or stick the quiche dish in the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes (checking that it looks cooked throughout).  The time will depend on the depth/thickness, so adjust for your situation. I find lower heat for longer time works better than trying to cook it hot and fast.

When it's done, let it cool, and then just cut it into wedges that look like a good portion for you to eat at breakfast.  Depending on the size of the pan or quiche dish and the thickness of the frittata or omelet, I find I get five or six portions out of it.  My breakfast routine consists of a wedge of that warmed in the toaster oven (15 minutes at 275 or so) or microwave (1:30 on high is usually good) plus a protein shake and a couple of newbodi.es 4hb slow carb bars.  Sometimes I'll also make lentils to along with it, and only eat one slow carb bar.

A tasty, good for you, protein-packed way to enlighten.your.body first thing in the morning.

Quick Meal Prep Tip

I've been getting quite a few questions about meal prep and cooking.  People can't seem to find a quick, easy and, perhaps most important, recipe that is Slow Carb Diet compliant.  I did post a little PDF cook book on the newbodi.es links page, but people want more than that.

So, while I toy with the idea of doing a few meal prep videos, I thought I'd share a tip that's at the heart of much of my cooking.  Three basic veggies, some olive oil and a pan.

The three veggies are frozen diced onions and frozen shelled edamame, plus fresh baby spinach.  You can use baby kale, too, but I find the spinach to be really tasty.  I use organic options for each. The pre-diced frozen onions are great since dicing onions can take some time.  The trick is to throw some olive oil (or macadamia, if you can find and afford it) in a pan, throw in the frozen veggies, and start the heat on medium-ish.  Then, after it warms up, you have a decision to make - what else are you going to add, if anything. You could add more veggies, or perhaps another protein beyond the edamame. Cashews and almonds go well with this dish, as does some shredded or cut up coconut.  I typically add an animal protein (usually a piece of fish or shrimp), but you don't have to.  This setup forms the basis of a fast, complete and tasty meal.

If you're going to add something pre-cooked like canned tuna, hard boiled egg, pre-cooked chicken breast, etc, you should add the spinach now while raising the heat to a medium high level.  It needs about 2 minutes to cook while being tossed so the oil gets it well covered.  I typically fill the pan with spinach as it cooks down fast and dramatically.  When it's still visible as leaves but darker in color, throw in your pre-cooked item, reduce the heat to medium, and let it sit for a couple of minutes to warm the pre-cooked stuff. Move the pan around occasionally to keep things mixed, free from sticking and so things heat evenly.  That's it.

If you're adding nuts, the story is the same, but you should consider pan roasting them a bit before adding them. Throw in a little sea salt (unless they're already salted), roast them in a little bit of olive oil while moving them around in the pan for 2-3 minutes, and throw them right into your veggie mixture.  Is really just about combining at that point, so you can even plate the veggies, and pour the nuts over the top.

Another option is to add lentils - an amazing source of vegetable protein, very hearty, and pretty filling. I tend to cook a put of lentils each week, and spoon the into various dishes.  I put some cayenne and a little sea salt into the water when cooking them.  Throw about a cup per portion into this meal, and it is a really complete dinner.

If you chose to add a raw item, like fresh fish or chicken breast, first make sure it's not a huge piece, or better yet, cook it a bit in another pan while you were warming the frozen stuff and oil.  Then throw it in, cover the lid, and raise the heat slightly toward medium high.  Let it cook for 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the item and what it is (chicken will take longer than fish or shrimp, for example). Move the pan around occasionally to keep it from sticking.  Check it, flip it, cover the whole thing is spinach, and then put a cover back on.  Then let it cook until the raw stuff is cooked through as you like it.  Be sure to move the pan around occasionally, and check it now and then to see doneness.  Just don't check too frequently so you don't release all the heat that's building up under the lid too much.

All in, you're looking at 10 minutes including prep and clean up without raw animal protein, or about 20-25 with it. Not bad at all.  And it's a pretty easy meal to make in terms of intensity.

A couple of side notes.  First, I don't insist on animal protein at all.  This dish works really well as a purely veggie dish, and you'll see it has no dairy, so it's easy to make it vegan. One thing I do insist on (if I can be so bold) is to really load up on the portion size if you aren't adding animal protein. Spinach is awesome, but cooks down really fast, and isn't very dense or filling.  Diced onions are kinda worthless from a 'fill you up' standpoint. Edamame is better, but still not filling enough in small to medium amounts.  The only trick is the lentils, which will fill you more than the other veggies.  But, do keep in mid, this meal will be fueling you for many hours.  For me, I typically eat around 5:30pm, and have breakfast the next morning around 5:15, and I might even work out again at night. Just be sure you are respecting your body's need for fuel and not thinking a cup of cooked veggies is sufficient. I typically have a fully loaded plate of this stuff, with the load being about 2.5 times as big when I go vegan on it.

Recipe: Cilantro Garlic Rutabaga Chips

Finding healthy ways to eat isn't hard. Finding healthy ways to eat that still including really enjoying your food can be tougher for some people.  The recipes I provide here try to give you truly healthy eating that also tastes good.  While tasting good is key, sometimes how a food eats is just as important.  We Americans have a need for crunching things, and those things can't always be raw veggies for most people.  The good news is, there are lots of ways to solve that need and still be healthy.  Case in point, Garlic Cilantro Rutabaga Chips.

FYI - if you would prefer this in video form, I did an episode of my podcast on rutabaga chips, so check it out on YouTube or subscribe to the iTunes podcast.

ingredients

• 1-2 medium rutabagas
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 table spoon turmeric
• 1/2 table spoon paprika

cooking for life

So what is a rutabaga, first of all.  It's a cross between a turnip and cabbage, and is a root vegetable.  It doesn't have too strong of a flavor, which makes it ideal for chip making.  Select medium-sized rutabagas with a firm feel to them. Some have purple on the outsides and some don't - don't worry too much about that.

Before we deal with the root itself, let's make the seasoned oil so it gets a chance to really take on the flavors we are going to add.  This batch is a cilantro and garlic rutabaga chip (with sea salt, turmeric and paprika), but you can really season them however you want.  I've done them similarly but with dill instead of cilantro.  You can put in sea salt and cayenne for a spicier chip.  You could make curry chips.   You could just do salt and oil.  It's really up to you and what you enjoy.  The key is to keep them healthy, so stay away from sugars (any kind of sugar, e.g. honey, maple syrup) or heavy sauces that likely hide a ton of sugar (e.g. BBQ sauce).  The idea is to get the flavor profile with the spices themselves instead of a sauce with spices in it. Most herbs and spices have health benefits (like turmeric for anti-inflammatory benefits, cayenne for metabolic and anti-inflammatory benefits, ginger for digestion, Ceylon cinnamon for sugar regulation, etc).  We're also going to use garlic, which is very healthful and good for your gut along with cilantro, which helps the body detox from things like heavy metals (which most people have too much of in their system in today's world).

Start by washing your cilantro, and then separating the stems and leaves.  We're primarily going to use the leaves, but the stems pack a lot of flavor, so I have a trick use for them before throwing them out.  Be sure to pat the cilantro dry before picking the leaves off or your job will be much harder and your seasoning will not mix well when you add the oil.

Oil and seasoning coming together

How much Cilantro to use is up to you - you can't really overdo it, but I suppose if you don't like cilantro (I know a few people who don't care for it), then you wouldn't want to use much (or use something else, like dill).  Set the leaves aside for a moment.  Take the stems into a bunch, and crack them in a few places to open them up.  Get a large bowl, put the stems in, and pour oil over them.  What kind of oil is largely up to you, but make a healthy choice.  Use olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil or sesame oil.  Stay away from canola and vegetable oil.  You don't need a ton of oil - it needs to be enough to coat the chips.  Usually a quarter to half cup is sufficient.  Add to this mashed up garlic (use a garlic press, or crush and mince it).  I typically use 3-4 large cloves.  Again, feel free to adjust this up or down to your taste.  Same goes for the spices.  I added about a table spoon of salt, and a half table spoon of paprika and turmeric.  Use the cilantro stems to stir it all up, taking care not to mix the stems in.  We need to pull them out soon, so don't make that job harder on yourself.

Chop up the cilantro leaves, and mix about 3/4 of them into the oil.  Again, stir things up.  Let that oil sit for an hour or so to really take on the flavors.  It's not mandatory, but the longer it sits, the more flavorful it will be.

Now back to the root of the issue.  You can't misspell rutabaga without root.  OK, that wasn't funny.  Use a peeler to take off the outer layer of the rutabaga.  Now you have to make chips, which you can do a couple of ways.  You can use the peeler and just peel right across the rutabaga.  That will make consistent but thing chips.  You can use a mandolin (a board with a blade you can adjust the depth of to make consistent slices) set to either 1/16" or 1/8", depending on how thin and crispy you want your chips.  If you use 1/16", be more vigilant while cooking the chips as they'll cook faster and can go from undercooked to burnt very rapidly.  As a note, you can peel or slice your chips right into the seasoning bowl, but if you do, pull out the cilantro stems before.  If you make the chips elsewhere, pull out the stems before adding the chips in.

Next, combine the chips into the oil and seasoning mixture, and work them together with your hands. OK, before doing that, wash your hands. Wait, go back to the whole beginning and wash your hands. OK, now wash them again before mixing things up.  Good work.  Now the key is to make sure that each chip is oiled/seasoned on both sides.  Be mindful of chips being stuck together.  Once you work everything through nicely, set the bowl aside for an hour if you have the time. Again, this isn't super necessary, but the longer they sit, the more flavorful they'll be.  I just made a batch of these with dill and let them sit for about 8 hours before cooking them, and they were out of this world.

Now, get the oil off your hands.  Stop for a moment and appreciate how nice your hands feel.  Wait, you have a piece of cilantro stuck to one of your fingers.  Got it?  Good.

Chips arranged on a baking sheet, ready for the oven.

Now we have to set the chips up for baking.  Preheat your oven to 350˙F and get out of baking sheet. Line it with parchment paper (I find this works better than aluminum foil as it lets the oil pull away from the chips rather than making them sit in a pool of oil, which leads to less crispiness and heavier chips that aren't as healthy for you. There also a benefit to reducing your exposure to heavy metals, so it's win-win.).

Try to avoid overlapping chips or piling chips on top of chips. If you do, you'll get softer, soggier chips.  this might mean you need two trays.  So be it.  If you have a wire rack you can bake on, you can use that, too, but be sure there's something under it to catch oil drippings, and make sure you can easily clean it (i.e. don't just use the oven's rack - and if you tried, you'd get all burned from trying to lay the chips on it when the oven is heated up).  Now is also the time to use any remaining cilantro to sprinkle some fresher (i.e. less oily) cilantro on the chips (as in this photo).  This is optional, of course.

Done. Some more so than others.
Be sure to rotate the trays to help avoid this

Once the over is at 350, pop the sheets in.  At 10 minutes, turn the trays around.  If you have two trays on different levels, also flip which is on top and which is on the bottom level.  The key is to help the chips cook evenly.  If you have a convection oven, that can be helpful here.

If you made chips using your peeler or cut to 1/16" with something like a mandolin, keep an eye on them every minute after 10 minutes.  If you cut them a little thicker, start your checks at minute 15.  For 1/8", I typically find them to be done around 18 minutes.  For 1/16", it's usually more like 14 minutes.

Nice, crisp chip

That's it.  They're done.  Let them cool for a minute or two (you can eat them warm or cool).  I don't recommend treating these like store-bought chips that will keep for a few days.  Eat them the day you make them.  You won't have a problem doing that.  They're really good, and you will likely be more concerned with wether you got enough and if it's ok to lick the parchment paper.  No, it isn't.

These healthy chips are one way to deliver on the clean14 challenge if you have vowed to cut out junk food from your diet.

Recipes like this really show how you can eat fun and tasty food while you enlighten.your.body.

Recipe: Kale Chips

Kale is perhaps the most talked-about, poster-child-food for healthy eating. Every serious and joke post I read about healthy eating makes some reference to kale. The thing is, it really is exceptionally healthy.  Wikipedia has a great post on kale and its nutritional value:

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, and rich in calcium. Kale is a source of two carotenoids, lutein andzeaxanthin. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties. Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir fryingdoes not result in significant loss. Along with other brassica vegetables, kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells. Kale has been found to contain a group of resins known as bile acid sequestrants, which have been shown to lower cholesterol and decrease absorption of dietary fat. Steaming significantly increases these bile acid binding properties.

OK, so that's a lot to take in, but it's a very healthy vegetable.

A basic way to eat it is to steam, sauté or boil it, but my favorite way is to make kale chips. You can buy lots of different kale chips in flavors like parmesan, but I find the store-bought ones to be over-done in terms of flavoring, which typically means they're loaded with things you don't need to put in your body (ahem, clean14). You can make your own kale chips super easily, and make sure you don't get any of what you don't need.

FYI - if you would prefer this in video form, I did an episode of my podcast on kale chips, so check it out on YouTube or subscribe to the iTunes podcast.

First, you need to know a bit about the various types of kale. You can make chips with any of them, but I suggest lacinato kale, which is also called dinosaur kale. It has a flat leaf, unlike most other types of kale, which lends itself really well to making chips.


ingredients

• 1 bunch of lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1-2 tbsp sea salt or himalayan (salt to your liking)
• Optional flavors - cayenne pepper, ginger, sesame, dill, cilantro, parmesan cheese, curry, etc - experiment with spices and flavors you like, but stay away from sauces - use the real spices behind the flavors

cooking for life

Step one is to make your oil and seasoning mixture so it has time to get well-flavored.  In a bowl, mix up your oil, crushed garlic and sea salt. If you want to experience with other flavors, go for it. My main guidance is to use the actual spices rather than a sauce. For example, if you want a hot, BBQ-style flavor, throw some garlic, cayenne and cumin into the oil - don't use BBQ sauce. The idea is to keep things light and flavorful, but also healthy.  Putting BBQ sauce on them would make them soggy, heavy and loaded with sugar. You won't have chips, but rather wet and soggy BBQ sugar kale. That doesn't sound very enticing to me, and certainly not keeping things healthy.

Step two is to separate the leaves and the central spine.  Kale has a spine in the middle which you can eat, but it isn't pleasant or easy, and it doesn't make for as good a chip experience, so you should separate it out. You can tear the leaves away, or use a paring knife to cut them free.

Wash and dry your leaves, really ensuring you rub each leaf to get any dirt that's stuck on them off of them.  Shake the leaves dry, and maybe even pat them dry.  The dryer they are, they better.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can use aluminum foil, but it's better to avoid the heavy metals, and also the parchment will help the chips end up lighter as they'll keep the chips from sitting in a pool of oil by allowing it to permeate away from the chips a little bit.

Once the leaves are dry, you can mix them with the flavored oil, either in a bowl or right on the baking sheet.  Really work the oil throughout the chips, coating both sides.  Then arrange the chips so that you don't have layers of plastered together chips.  It's ok for a chip to have another on top of it, but try to turn each layer so there's air between them.  This will allow them to crisp up.

Pre-heat your oven to 350˙ F.  While it heats up, the kale will get a bit marinated to enhance the flavor. Do feel free to let them sit with the flavor a bit longer, but not too long or the leaves will wilt a bit.

Cooking time is usually about 12-18 minutes, so start looking in on them at around 12 minutes to make sure they aren't burning.

That's it.  It's an easy recipe that doesn't take too long (the longest part is getting the leaves off the spines), and it makes a light, crispy, enjoyable snack or side dish that you can feel really good about eating.  As we try to change our lives to be healthier, it's great to find ways to do it that also are fun and enjoyable - proof that healthy eating doesn't have to be a chore or be joyless.

These healthy chips are one way to deliver on the clean14 challenge if you have vowed to cut out junk food from your diet.

Recipes like this really show how you can eat fun and tasty food while you enlighten.your.body.

I Got Some Time with NOW Sports Products

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of NOW Foods. 

We have used NOW Foods products in our home for a few months, and really like them for their quality and focus on what goes into their products (and, equally, what doesn't go into them).  As a FitFluential ambassador, I had the opportunity to try some of their NOW Sports line of products and write a review of what I think.  Full disclosure - these products were all provided to me by NOW Foods for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts contained are my own, though.

You can find all of these products on NOW's website (products are linked below), use the "find a retailer" link to find where to buy (they're sold nationwide by health food retailers), or get them from many online retailers like Amazon.com.

What did I get?
I got five products - two protein powders, and three dietary supplements:

1. Sprouted Brown Rice Protein
   
2. Vanilla Pea Protein
3. Liquid Carnitine
   
4. MCT Oil
   
5. Extreme Men’s Multi

The only one that was a new idea to me was the MCT oil, but I've used all the other products in the past, though never from NOW.  I've also never used a liquid form of L-Carnitine.

Product by product, let's see what my month with them has shown.

Sprouted Brown Rice Protein
This is a basic, staple product.  If you haven't seen how I feel about protein, then you need to (check out my YouTube video or read the various blog posts I've done on it). It's important, and you should be starting your day with it. A great way to do so is via a protein shake.  There are lots of options out there, including dairy and egg proteins, and vegetable proteins.  This is a vegetable protein, and it's in a very pure form.  How pure?  There's only one ingredient, and it's the thing that it is - sprouted brown rice protein.  That's it.  That means this is vegan, soy free and gluten free (though some people don't take well to rice protein even though it isn't technically gluten).

Here's what NOW Sports says about the product:

This GMO-free vegan protein powder is ideal for those with allergies or sensitivities to the natural compounds found in whey, egg, soy and other protein sources. Natural and pure with no added ingredients, each tablespoon offers four grams of protein and mixes easily with a smooth texture.

It's easy to use - just dump a table spoon into water, almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, goat milk, sheep milk, milk milk, etc.  You get the idea.  You can also mix it with coffee, though I'd suggest you only do cold beverages for a variety of reasons.  Hot or warm protein shakes are gross.  Unfortunately, NOW doesn't include a scooper, but I have like 50 laying around, so I just reduced/reused/recycled a solution.  I rarely find a protein powder that lacks a scooper, so this was kind of surprising, but not a deal breaker.

For me, the taste is horrible, but I expect and accept that.  I've never liked the taste of rice protein, and because this is just straight rice protein powder with no added flavorings, you get that full on rice protein taste.  It's strong and maybe the best way to describe it is bitter, but that's not quite it either.  So I tend to add some things to calm it down.  I add cinnamon, cayenne, turmeric, stevia, shredded coconut, vanilla extract (1 tsp) and a mix of 50/50 water/unsweetened coconut milk.  All of those additions are organic, by the way.  The cinnamon is for sugar regulation in addition to flavor, the turmeric is for inflammation (definitely not for flavor - I don't care for it, but it's hard to taste if you add about a half a tablespoon), and the cayenne is for a lot of things, including metabolism boosting.  I then add a few ice cubes and blend it into a smoothy.  It's still gross, but not too bad, and definitely drinkable.  Coffee would probably be a nice addition to help overpower the strong brown rice protein flavor.

Another way I've been using it is adding a half a tablespoon to slow-cooking oatmeal.  You can still taste it a bit, but it's not too bad.

One other issue I have with it is that, as a protein supplement, it doesn't have much protein.  Four grams per serving.  Protein supplements should do something for your protein intake, and 4 grams isn't doing much.  For someone who is looking to add a bit more protein without looking to amp their protein intake, this might be the kind of thing to look for.  It isn't what I would use as I generally want more protein in my shakes, and I'd probably eat some nuts or a bowl of lentils to get the same or more protein instead.  For comparison sake, a serving of cashews (1/4 cup) has five grams of protein.  Gram for gram, the powder wins (a serving is five grams, four of which are protein, vs five out of 28 grams in a serving of cashews), but I think eating a handful of cashews is easier and tastier.  You might have other dietary concerns that mean you are in need of something that's basically pure, vegan protein without the fat of nuts or fiber of lentils or beans.  Or you might just want a different protein if you're already heavy on beans and nuts.  This might be a good choice then, but the protein is so low, and the taste is so strong (and unenjoyable) that I'd personally look for something else (like Garden of Life RAW protein).

So why bother?  Well, you may be allergic to nuts.  Or you may be vegan/vegetarian, and want to diversify your protein sources.  I think that's what NOW Sports is going for here.  They suggest adding it to a relatively small amount of liquid (six ounces), and don't talk about using it as a sports supplement.  That is weird since it's part of their Sports line.  I think it would fit better in their NOW Foods line instead.  I think it's really about rounding out or diversifying your protein sources and getting a bit more into your life.  For that, I think this is fine, but I'd think about non-drink ways to add it, too - like my oatmeal idea.

I would mention that it isn't organic, which I wish it was.  It is, however, GMO-free, which is awesome.  I'm very much against GMOs and the engineering of our food supply, so a big thank you to NOW Foods for caring about that, too.  The question is just one of fertilizer and pesticides keeping it form being organic, but at least the crop wasn't created in a lab bent on profits over safety and health.  There are organic options, so if that matters to you (it does to me), this is a brand to skip.  If not, I'd definitely give a thumbs up to NOW Sports Sprouted Brown Rice Protein for those vegans looking to have a more diverse protein profile in their lives.  If that's not you, maybe the next product is more up your ally.

Vanilla Pea Protein
If my issue with the taste of brown rice protein turned you off of vegan proteins, don't swear them off yet!  There are other options, and this is one that blew me away.  Other common vegan proteins are  hemp and pea protein powder, and this one is pea-based.  I've generally found pea proteins to taste other than good, so I was concerned.  Here, NOW Sports has added flavor via natural ingredients to create a sweat and delicious protein powder.  It's sweet thanks to a mix of stevia and xylitol.  No sugar, no sucralose (Splenda), aspartame (Nutrasweet), sugar alcohol (stomach pain), etc.  These ingredients will also not cause a spike in insulin production, which is great (whereas the other sugar substitutes do).  Xylitol also has an added benefit of tricking bad gut flora into thinking its sugar.  When these bacteria eat the xylitol, they can't process it, and explode.  Seriously.  Xylitol is administered by some naturopaths as a treatment for overgrowth of bad gut flora for this reason.

OK, so enough about exploding gut flora.  This powder mixes very well in the same kinds of liquids as the rice protein (or other protein powders), but you don't need to worry about hiding the taste.  In fact, you'll probably want to relish the taste and ensure you don't mask it.  It is a bit strong, but it's good.  I love vanilla and I love toffee.  Put them together, and you get a really indulgent flavor that you swear is bad for you.  But it isn't.  No sugar.  25 grams of protein (that's the most of any vegan protein powder I've ever used, and gets you almost all the way to 30 in the first 30, as I recommend - 30 grams of protein in the first 30 minutes of waking up).

Here's what NOW Sports says about the protein:

Got allergies? No way you’re doing whey? NOW® Sports Pea Protein contains no soy or dairy, just 25 grams of easily digested, non-GMO vegetable protein. It’s pure and natural, hypoallergenic, has a smooth texture and mixes easily into your favorite beverages.

And it comes in Vanilla Toffee. We’re pretty sure all the best things come in Vanilla Toffee.

NOW Sports even remembered to put a scoop in there!  But the scoop is huge.  I mean humongous.  It's so big, I actually had trouble getting the powder into my blender bottle because of how wide the scoop is (it has a wedge shape that's wider in the front, which makes it harder to use but cool looking).  My preference would be to use a half-sized scoop and recommend people use two scoops per serving (as ViSalus does).  It just makes the logistics easier to deal with.  I know, I'm picky, but the little stuff matters.

My only other comment is that the taste is a little salty.  By 'a little' I mean 'very'.  A serving has quite a high sodium level - 540mg, which is 23% of the recommended daily allowance.  The unflavored version has only 330mg.  'Only' being used loosely here, but I will just say I really notice the saltiness and actually detracts from the drink.  If they could tone it down closer to 400mg, it would still be high, but not overpowering.  I'm not concerned with my sodium intake, so this doesn't matter to me beyond taste, but I would be uncomfortable recommending the product to someone who is hypertensive (I have a client with hypertension, and I couldn't suggest she use this), and I think they went a little overboard unnecessarily.

So, save for the sodium, I love this stuff.  Same deal as the brown rice powder in terms of being natural and not organic, but I like it.  If you're cool with the sodium level, go for it.  You won't be upset with the flavor.  I would suggest mixing in some coffee (if you drink it) as that might detract from the salty flavor a bit.

Liquid Carnitine
In high school, I used to take L-carnitine pills thirty minutes before eating (along with chromium picolinate), so I have had experience with the product.  It is an amino acid that helps your body make energy.


Here's what NOW Sports says about their L-Carnitine liquid:

L-Carnitine is carnitine in a highly absorbable liquid form. What’s carnitine? An amino acid that helps transfer fatty acid groups into the mitochondrial membrane to produce energy.* It naturally occurs in red meat and other animal-source foods, but for those who supplement NOW® L-Carnitine is the purest form (containing no sugar, salt, starch, wheat, gluten, corn, soy, milk, egg, shellfish or artificial colors/flavors), clinically tested, and vegetarian. It comes in Tropical Punch or Citrus Flavor.

I can't really say a ton about how the product works or whether it works, but I've had good experience with L-Carnitine in the past, and have no reason to think this isn't working the same way.  I will definitely comment about the flavor.  It's awesome.  I was hesitant to go with a liquid approach as I tend to prefer to pop a pill (it's easier if you travel or are on the go a lot), but I've really loved this stuff.  They also make a tropical punch flavor, which I bought myself after running out of the citrus flavor I got for this blog review.  It's good, but I think I actually prefer the citrus - it's a little fresher tasting and less heavy-sweet.  They're both super tasty, though. I start and end my day with it (since you are best off taking it on an empty stomach), and love it.

MCT Oil
Medium Chain Triglycerides, which is what MCT stands for, are fats found in coconut and palm kernel oil (perhaps other places, but I don't know).  They're fats that are more easily digested than other types of fat. As a result, they are known to increase your body's ability to burn fats rather than store them (think of priming a flue in your fireplace to get a fire to burn better).  The idea is to substitute MCT for other fats so you do a better job of burning the fat you are taking in, and thus end up promoting leaning out your body.


You can add it to foods, but need to be careful with heat.  MCT oil doesn't do well with medium to high heat since it has a low boiling point, so it's better to be a replacement for oil in salad dressing, or perhaps in place of butter or olive oil added to bread or potatoes (I eat neither, so I feel funny recommending this).  I've been cooking with non-stick, ceramic cookware and then putting some MCT on the end product after it's plated to bring some richness back into the dish, and it's really nice.  I have also put some into quinoa, and would do it with rice (if I eat it, it's only brown), and like how it makes the dish taste and eat - smooth and decadent.  The dose is a table spoon, and they suggest using it about three times per day.  You can take a straight tablespoon of it, or add it to a drink, too, but then you're not replacing other fats with it, so that sort of defeats the purpose.

Here's what NOW Sports says about their MCT Oil:

Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s) are fats that are naturally found in coconut and palm kernel oil. MCT’s are more easily and rapidly digested than other types of fats, as they require lower amounts of enzymes and bile acids for intestinal absorption. MCT’s are metabolized very quickly in the liver and are reported to encourage energy expenditure, and not fat storage. Numerous studies suggest that substituting MCT Oil for other fats in a healthy diet may therefore help to support healthy weight and body composition.

I like the product, but am not sure if it's doing anything.  Your mileage may vary, but I don't see any issues with it, and do like how it's made meals taste and feel richer - like I'm indulging - without necessarily being a bad thing.

Extreme Men's Multi
This is a multi-vitamin aimed at men.  It has a pretty good nutrition profile, including a little MCT oil.  The only things it doesn't have much of are calcium, magnesium and fat.  I wouldn't expect my multivitamin to have fat, but this one has a little bit (2.5g across three pills (the daily dose), which I'm sure is just due to the MCT oil).

There's not much to say here beyond it being a good looking (not aesthetically, but ingredient-wise) multi-vitamin.  It is a fairly big soft-gel-type pill, and you have to take it three times a day.  If I could, I would make it one pill you take once a day.  I have a feeling it's so large to accommodate the MCT oil, so I'd skip that ingredient and consider just using the MCT liquid.  The benefit of having the dosing split across the day is that you may do better absorbing the nutrients than if you got more of a dose all at once.  I don't know what bioavailability testing on these nutrients has been done, whether the doses are high enough in one pill that it's irrelevant, etc, but that could be a benefit.  Slow and steady wins the race, right?  Unless you're fast and can endure.  That's my question here.

So, a fine multi-vitamin.  A month's supply is about $35, which isn't terrible but isn't cheap, either.  The multivitamin I take (Rainbow Light Men's One) costs $20 for a 3 month supply and is a one-a-day option.  I haven't found any issues while on the NOW Sports multi, but I haven't noticed any clear benefits, so I plan to go back to the Rainbow Light product for just over an 80% savings.

About NOW Foods
NOW Foods, a family-owned company since 1968, is a leader in the nutritional supplements industry and dedicated to providing customers with a comprehensive approach to wellness by offering a variety of high-quality, natural and affordable products. Founded on the belief that natural is better, NOW Foods is proud to offer more than 1,400 natural products that are specifically formulated to help support optimal health through good nutrition. NOW Foods product offerings range from nutrient-rich foods and supplements to personal care and sports nutrition items.

Visit www.NOWFoods.com for more information on NOW Foods products and local retailers. 

Q: I'm so hungry by the time I get home, it's been really hard

Q: I'm so hungry by the time I get home, it's been really hard to stay on the diet.

A: That is simple - you're not eating enough during your meals.  We are conditioned to believe that eating too much (or enough) is the root of all evil when trying to lose weight (or, more accurately, eating a lot along with eating fat).  This just isn't true.  It's not quantity, it's quality.  In fact, to be more precise, you need high quantity of high quality.  Drop one of those two, and you have problems.

Tim Ferriss discusses this a few times.  The way he sees it - and I totally agree - is that you aren't eating enough during your meals if you find yourself hungry or needing to snack.  He isn't a subscriber of the "3 meal + 2 snack" approach, and would recommend bigger meals instead.  Having stuck a subcutaneous glucose monitor in himself for a month or so, he saw that you don't actually need the snacks to keep metabolism going the way people say you go.  Since snacking is not valuable for stimulating metabolism, Tim sees hunger that drives snacking more as sign of your fuel intake being far too low to cover your work effort.  He reminds readers that their new diet is lower in energy than their old one, so they need to ramp up volumes - a cup of kale doesn't have the same fuel as a cup of oatmeal.

For me, I follow a 3-4 meal approach (depending on how much time and access to good food I have during the 3 meals, I'll add a fourth), but I also listen to my body if I'm hungry, and adjust my meal intake or I do have a snack that's within the rules to get me to my next meal when the previous one wasn't sufficient.  In that next meal, I'll go overboard on the good stuff to be sure I'm good and full.

It's funny, I don't recall being so full so often in my life...and certainly never being so full on tasty food where I consistently lose weight and fat.

The good stuff to load up on are mainly cruciferous veggies - broccoli, spinach, kale, baby broccoli (which is a hybrid of kale and broccoli), chard, etc.  It all sautés nicely, goes well in soups, omelets, fritadas, etc. But throwing in an egg, or a cup (or two) of lentils is a fantastic idea. Lentils are amazing.  Super rich in protein, filling, and can be very tasty (they take seasoning well when cooking them).

A suggestion I'd make is to eat your 3 squares according to the rules, but for the first week or two, try adding a mid-afternoon salad.  A big salad.  Try getting a hard boiled egg in there.  I did this for the first two weeks, and it really helped.  And sprinkle some chia seeds on it.  Then, before bed, do what Tim suggests - have a tablespoon of almond butter or something similar to get some protein and fat in you to ride you through the night. You'll sleep better, and you may just find, like me, that your weight and fat are lower on mornings after doing that than on mornings when you don't.  I was shocked.

I started to figure out good recipes I'd want to eat that were totally within the rules and actually simple to make, which helped me make bigger meals I'd eat all of, and so now I tend to eat 3 meals instead of 4.  I'll share some in the future, but you can also download The Slow Carb Cookbook from our Resources page to get started.

Infect Others with Positivity

Recently, while waiting at a doctor's appointment, I talked with another patient.  She inquired about the newbodi.es logo I had on my shirt and iPad (I was reading The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor). She shared that was is a personal trainer, so we talked about what we do to help people with fitness. It was interesting for me as I've been thinking about getting certified by NASM, which she's done.  I think it was interesting for her as I take a very different approach, with my work really focusing on the mental side of it rather than giving people specific exercises (I can do that, but it's not really the driving force behind my coaching).

She gave me the rundown of how she got into it, and the experience she's had working for various gyms. The overall tone was negative and unhappy, with things she doesn't like about each gym. We then talked about her fitness objectives, and the conversation focused mainly on the barriers she faces and why it's so hard or impossible to do XYZ. For example, we talked about running, and the discussion moved immediately to why she can't run more than 3 miles.

I'm not trying to be critical of her or our conversation. What I'm trying to do is point out how the general view of things can be a trap. It's not simple irony that I was reading The Happiness Advantage when we started speaking as the teachings in the book are exactly what's in play for her. The chapter I was reading was about how our emotional state is contagious - when we're happy, we 'infect' others with happiness; when we're unhappy or negative, it causes the same in others. Acutely aware of this, I took a very positive tone, and tried to be inspirational. I ensured I didn't end up 'catching' her negative approach, but wanted to give her a case of the 'see possibilities and reach for them' that I am infected with.

For example, when telling me the reasons she can't run more than 3 miles, I offered the idea of running two shorter runs in the same day.  Book end your day with 20 minute runs (that should get you 2 to 2.5 miles) so you avoid the issues she was raising while getting a good bit of training done and enjoying yourself. I could see the wheels turning as to why that wasn't going to work, and then she said, "Well, but I want to run longer, so that isn't going to help." True, but it will condition your muscles for the longer run, and perhaps change your other issues in the process.  You're essentially training around them.

It boils down to the analogy I often give people when discussing The Happiness Advantage. If you walk up to a wall, you see a barrier - something that's in the way of progress. It could be illness, a bad boss, financial trouble, whatever. The book wouldn't suggest that there's no wall. The reality is that the wall exists. That's not the problem. The problem is whether you just sit there, staring at it dead on, focusing solely on the existence of the wall. If you could break your fixation and look around, you'd notice the door over to the side. You just have to be willing to look at it. The door could be budgeting better, sitting down with your boss with some key points jotted down around how you feel you'd perform better with different support from him or her, or a new treatment plan for your illness that you have hope will really help.

Our conversation was all wall, so to speak.  Every time I tried to suggest a slight turning of the head, she'd remind me that there's this big freaking wall there. The funny thing is that I was sitting there, not even a week out of knee surgery - my 14th operation, mind you - and saw all kinds of possibilities around fitness and overcoming physical constraints. Every time I've gotten cooking with my own fitness, something goes haywire and I end up in an operating room. I've chosen not to let that be my reality or a forgone conclusion. She can, too.

There's a great story that Achor shares, and is pretty famous. No one had been able to break 4 minutes in the mile, and it was a medically accepted fact that it was physically impossible to break it. People got close to 4 minutes, but just couldn't break through. Of course not, it wasn't physically possible, as all the experts reminded them. One man wouldn't believe that. In 1954, Roger Bannister of the UK broke 4 minutes, and set a world record (and he didn't even train too intensely as he was studying to be a doctor a the time...and became a well-regarded neurologist, so he better believe that studying was intense and time-consuming). Where the story really gets interesting is that his record only stood for 46 days until Australian John Landy broke it by nearly 1.5 seconds (that's a huge margin, actually). Bannister showed the world that this immovable wall of 4 minutes actually had a huge door you could run right through. People starting breaking 4 minutes regularly (18 more times, actually), setting successively faster records. The current record was set in 1999, and stands at 3:43.13 (great table of the records on Wikipedia). Once people realized it wasn't impossible, the flood gates opened.

How we look at situations dictates how we feel.  While how we feel dictates how we act, it also impacts all those around us - for better or worse. I fought the negativity in the conversation with positivity and inspiration - both to benefit her and to protect myself from getting a case of the negatives. I think I showed her the light, but she will have to embrace it herself.

How did you impact someone's mindset today? How did you enlighten.your.body?

Q: How do I stick with it (Part II)

Q: How do I stick with doing what I know I should? I am pretty good about exercise, but I eat things I know I shouldn't. I just have to make myself do it, right?

A: I talked about motivation in the first part of my response to this question. You should read that post, but the essence is about finding a driver within you so that you aren't making yourself do anything, but wanting to do something for your health (eating right, exercising, etc).

In this part, I want to address the 'something'. Let's look at exercise first. Some people have this idea that you have to go to a gym, feel awkward, get super sweating, wear cheap flip flops in the shower, and rush off to work late and sweating all over again. You have to sit (literally or figuratively) on a machine, staring at a wall, mirror, magazine or small TV screen.  You have to do it for at least 60 minutes or you won't lose any weight.

Does this sound enticing to you?  No, I'm sure it sounds more demoralizing to you than enticing.  As a work out addict, that doesn't appeal to me at all.  If it doesn't appeal, you will dread it.  If you dread it, you will have to make yourself do it, and that's exactly what we're trying to avoid.

So how do you do it? You need to find what you enjoy doing, and do that.

I had to stop during a CUYOP run to get
this photo of the great scenery I get to run in

OK, that's too simple, right?  Well, not really.  For me, I learned that I prefer outdoor exercise, so I took up cycling and running. I use machines in doors when weather really keeps me off the roads, but I combined those two things with my commute to balance my time (check out my post on CUYOP, and the Twitter hashtag #cuyop), get some varied scenery (I have a few routes I can take, including a nice riverfront section), and found that when I have an actual goal, I enjoy it more (i.e. getting to my office vs. just running a loop around my home).  So I found exercises I generally enjoy more than others, and found modalities for doing those exercises that I prefer.

I also have gym exercises I prefer, so I try to do those more than those I don't prefer or care for (I'll run on a treadmill, but find it really mind-numbing, same for upright bikes though oddly not for recumbent bikes).  Then the question is how do you do them and for how long. I recently had a long discussion with a client who couldn't get past the idea that she needed to do at least 60 minutes of cardio to make it worth anything. That's just not so. The key is not to do things at a constant pace.  Use intervals on a machine where every so often, it makes you go faster or deal with more resistance.  Pick an undulating hill course (on a machine or in real life).  Use intervals out on the road by going faster for a minute, and then slower for a minute in a pattern throughout your run/walk/ride/rollerskate/XC skiing/etc.  The run/walk approach is a great way to get into running and build your cardio-respiratory ability while not over-taxing your system. You can use a stop watch set to signal each minute, or better yet, download any of the great, free interval apps for your smart phone (I use Seconds for iOS).

Scientifically, intervals work better than constant work as the up and down in effort sparks a fat burning response that can last for hours after your workout.  As a result, you don't need to do it as long for the same result as if you did a constant effort workout.  The key is to not just choose an interval workout, but actually do it.  By that I mean when the interval hits, move faster. It's pretty easy to get lost in your reading or a show and ignore the machine telling you to pump it (or miss the point where you were supposed to start running again if you're out on the road).

Unscientifically, the variation keeps it interesting, and keeps you engaged (since you have to pay attention to when the interval hits, and you'll want to pay attention to when its done so you can slow down).  I started using a second interval program on my elliptical to spice things up, so I split my workout between the base interval program and a Speed Work program I found that really kicks my butt and is super fun.

I was recently participating in a month-long competition that included doing 100 burpees a day. Burpees are a mix of a squat thrust and a jump (unless you do the cross fit version, which substitutes the squat thrust with laying down on the floor).  They're great, and terrible, too.  I found that I really dreaded them, and would procrastinate starting, which just ate into the rest of my workout time. Due to an injury, I had to stop doing them before the competition ended, but I also realized I should have dropped them from my routine because of how I felt about doing them and the cost that feeling was having on my workout overall.

The same exact story applies to healthy eating. Kale is the greatest food in the world and the only thing you should eat according to some fanatics. What if you absolutely hate it? Well, then, forcing yourself to just eat kale will be a recipe for not sticking with healthy eating. Find healthy things you love (and I'm not talking about packaged foods that advertise low fat or low sodium, but actual food that was alive at some point (whether veggie or animal or both is up to you). If you hate chicken but want to avoid red meat, experiment with turkey, seafood or veggie-based meat alternatives to keep your protein up. If you don't like leafy greens, try baby broccoli, which is a hybrid of kale and broccoli.  Try some foreign veggies like baby bok choi (aka youcsai) or daikon. Open up those spices you haven't been using to give your dishes a kick. Check out some of my recipes for inspiration, or look at Twitter for healthy cooking ideas - it's LOADED with them.

So, find your true motivation, and then find the things you enjoy doing. Just find how to transform your life into one you choose to really live healthily and fully. That's how you enlighten.your.body.

Recipe: Bean Bourguignon

I was reading Runner's World recently, and found a very good looking recipe in it.  Generally, I find their recipe's too look great, but be way too high in sugar for my preference.  It's funny - usually they have naturally sweet ingredients (like fruit), but then add more sugar, honey or maple syrup on top of that, and I never know why they do that.  Of course, by, "it's funny," I mean, "it's sad and unnecessary."

So, with a bit of skepticism, I read a recipe for making a classic, rich, savory dish into one a bit healthier.  Bouf Bourguignon is an old French classic for a rich, flavorful, slow-cooked treat. If you've seen the movie Julie & Julia, you may recognize the dish's name.  Runner's World replaced the beef with white beans, so as to be more health-conscious while still providing lots of protein. Oddly enough, they add in prosciutto for flavor, thus dashing any hopes of this being a vegetarian or vegan dish.  My version kept with the meat, but I have a couple of ways to move further away from carnivority (if that's a word, which it isn't).

So, here's the Runner's World recipe, as it appears on their site, save for one edit.  They left out re-adding the mushrooms, so I've written that in below (see the blue text). This comes from http://www.runnersworld.com/recipes/recipe-bean-bourguignon.

Ingredients

Photo courtesy of Runner's World

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 package (10 ounces) baby portabella mushrooms, quartered, or cut into sixths if large
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, minced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup flour
1 cup dry red wine, such as cabernet sauvignon, burgundy, or merlot
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3 cans (15 ounces each) white beans, drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms. Cook for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until liquid evaporates and mushrooms start to brown. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of oil and onion to the pot. Cook onion, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes, or until translucent. Add prosciutto, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves. Add the cooked mushrooms back in. Cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir. Whisk in wine and broth. Stir in the beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve. Serves 6.

Nutrition Information
Calories Per Serving: 377
Carbs: 44 g
Fiber: 9 g
Protein: 22 g
Fat: 11 g

It's a very simple dish, actually, with the toughest part being, well, just about nothing. OK, if you use fresh thyme like I did, picking it from the stems is time-consuming.  It's basically about throwing things in a pot, sometimes taking some out before adding them back in - but you could even skip that, and just add the onions after the mushrooms cook.  I wouldn't, but it's probably not that big of a deal.

So, what did I do to alter this?  Well, first, I don't drink, so the wine had to go.  This allowed me to make this recipe while sticking to my Clean14 pledge of no alcohol (along with other things). I was trying to think of what to use instead, and my wife had a brilliant idea - seriously brilliant - use pomegranate juice. It has a similar flavor profile and tartness.  It is very sugary, though, which is my only concern. A serving of POM Wonderful has over 30 grams of sugar. You could also use tart cherry juice. I just looked at a concentrate version on Amazon, and it has 14 grams per serving, so that would work nicely, too.

The second thing I changed was to ditch the white flour. That has the nice effect of making this a gluten-free dish, while also replacing wasteful carbs with more productive carbs and protein.  You can go several ways here, but I chose a mix of almond and coconut flour. The coconut flour is closer to white flour in consistency, while the protein and carb profile of almond flour is really nice. I also think it gives a richness to dishes while not adding rich stuff.  I was also a little concerned with the coconut flour giving coconut flavor to the dish.  I can say this didn't happen at all given how flavorful the other ingredients are, and how little you're using (it's only a 1/4 cup of flour, so even all coconut flour should't do much).  As always, I'd recommend Bob's Red Mill for your flour needs.  They're a great company with great products and great values.

Third thing I changed was to use natural, black forest bacon.  Nothing wrong with prosciutto if you're ok with meat (and pork), but the really good stuff without junk preservatives can be very costly.  I added 20 strips of well-cooked bacon (I bought pre-cooked, but you can cook it yourself - I just didn't have the time) for about 1/4 the price of 6 ounces of prosciutto.  This gave a lot of great flavor to the dish.

To avoid pork, you could easily use turkey bacon (I actually intended to, but the Whole Foods I went to was out of it when I went).  To go vegan, you can use vegan bacon. It doesn't have the same flavor, but it has a good flavor, and I think would definitely do the job. If you don't want to do that, you could add probably a tablespoon of liquid smoke to get the same effect.  Lastly, if you want to avoid adding something like that, you could use shiitake mushrooms, which have a nice, woody, smokey flavor to them.  I'd do another 10 ounces (so doubling the amount of mushrooms), and make sure they're nicely cut up to release as much flavor as possible.  To keep it vegan, you could easily use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth (as RW points out), but you could even possibly use miso soup (Whole Food's 365 brand has a miso broth that has a very light flavor, and could help make up for the lack of wine by adding a bit of fermentation to the dish).  I haven't tried doing it with miso, but a gentle miso broth could work nicely here.

My only other change was to add way more thyme than they recommend, and to do so with fresh thyme.  I love the taste of thyme, and it can help to make up for the lost flavors from rendering beef, wine or prosciutto.

The whole thing, including picking the thyme from the stems, took about 40 minutes, with 30 of that being cooking.

So how did it taste?  Honestly, unreal.  The house smelled amazingly, too.  I got three good-sized servings out of it, but I'm not sharing them with anyone because I'm stingy and like it took much.  This would go really well over brown rice or quinoa (tip - cook them in chicken, veggie or miso broth for an even better taste), or on its own.  I put it over a little bit of chicken-stock-cooked brown rice.  It would also pair really nicely with some rutabaga chips.