Last night I went to a plant-based cooking demonstration in Delmar. The chef's name was Eric Sharer and he whipped up a DELICIOUS meal. He made us a salad using vegetables from a friend's garden that consisted of Swiss chard, fennel, raw beets, red onion, parsnips and kalamata olives. He tossed it all together and poured Annie's organic salad dressing over the top of it. Delicious!
The next course was spaghetti squash with a red sauce. He simply baked the squash for 30 minutes and scraped it with a fork when it was done. When you scrape the squash it forms thin strands of spaghetti! He made a very easy sauce using red lentils, onion, garlic, a carrot, broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, basil and oregano. He diced the vegetables and simmered them in the tomatoes and lentils. Added seasoning to this and ladled it over the top of the squash.
Then there was dessert!! It was an apple/zucchini crumble. He used apples, zucchinis, lemon juice and apple juice....this was the filling. The crumbly top was made from oats, pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup and Earth Balance margarine (I would have not used this!), cinnamon and nutmeg. He cooked the apples and zucchinis in the lemon/apple juice for about 10 minutes and poured it into a baking dish. He then mixed the oats and syrups together with the margarine in a food processor and spread it over the top of the apples....baked it for about 20 minutes and then cooled in the refrigerator. It was DELICIOUS!
Eric used all very simple ingredients and made an absolutely delicious meal. When he was making the salad using the Swiss chard, fennel and beets, people weren't quite sure if they would like it...of course, most of us are used to lettuce, tomatoes and a few other vegetables on top for our salad....however, this was absolutely delicious and EVERYONE, loved it!! He used a food processor to chop everything so the raw beets were shredded and they were amazing.
So, we had a meal using very simple ingredients found in the everyday average grocery store or, if you are lucky enough to have one, a garden. People frequently ask if they have to eat 100% plant based to get the benefits. My answer to that is, of course if you are eating more vegetables and fruits and less of the foods that are giving us very little benefit, and keeping us fat and sick, that's better than no vegetables and fruits. HOWEVER, once you eliminate the processed foods and animal products, your TASTE BUDS with CHANGE. That's a fact! We begin to acquire NEW TASTES that actually CRAVE the good foods. A good analogy would be a cigarette smoker asking if they have to give up ALL cigarettes or just some. No one would say to a 2 pack a day smoker to just smoke a 1/2 a pack of cigarettes everyday and you'll be fine. Of course they NEED to give up cigarettes COMPLETELY....but, smoking 1/2 a pack a day is much better than smoking two packs a day....the person is still putting toxins in their body. It's much easier to go 100% than 95% because you are much more likely to succeed in the long run.
Another topic of discussion last night was if eating this way was considered vegetarian or vegan. I really don't like to use either of those terms because the definition of being a vegetarian just means you don't eat any meat or fish. The term vegan means you don't eat any meat, fish or dairy. Both of these terms tell us what we don't eat....however, using the term Whole Food Plant Based tells us a person eats "whole food"...foods that are NOT processed, and "plant-based" means all the vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds that come from the plant kingdom....so Whole Food Plant Based tells us all the foods we DO EAT. This is not a "diet" of what we don't eat, but a "diet" of abundance!
When following a Whole Food Plant Based diet you are eating all the foods from the plant kingdom without having to worry about counting calories, fats, carbs, etc. You eat REAL WHOLE FOOD until you are full. When you eat the food that your body NEEDS, not only will your health SOAR, but the numbers on the SCALE will drop like a rock....you don't even have to really TRY.....the pounds just MELT off. It's truly AMAZING.
Try following a diet that consists of loads of vegetables and fruits, and eliminate the animal products..... the difference you will FEEL eating this way will motivate you to continue. Of course, the longer you eat this way, the better you will feel and the more your health will improve.
Pills just do not SOLVE anything, they treat the SYMPTOMS AND CURE NOTHING....however, the POWER of NUTRITION has the ability to PREVENT disease, STOP disease, and REVERSE damage done by disease, (in most cases) as nature designed it to do. People just do not realize how powerful food can be.
So, get rid of the foods that are making you feel tired, lethargic, achy, sick and bloated. Eat all the foods you want from the plant kingdom...the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in all these foods will start to MOP UP all the toxins and extra fat cells and help your body get rid of them.
Once you are eating for your HEALTH and not feeding DISEASE, the results will amaze you! If you need help in anyway transitioning to this way of eating, let me know...I would love to get you on the ROAD TO RECOVERY!!!
The next course was spaghetti squash with a red sauce. He simply baked the squash for 30 minutes and scraped it with a fork when it was done. When you scrape the squash it forms thin strands of spaghetti! He made a very easy sauce using red lentils, onion, garlic, a carrot, broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, basil and oregano. He diced the vegetables and simmered them in the tomatoes and lentils. Added seasoning to this and ladled it over the top of the squash.
Then there was dessert!! It was an apple/zucchini crumble. He used apples, zucchinis, lemon juice and apple juice....this was the filling. The crumbly top was made from oats, pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup and Earth Balance margarine (I would have not used this!), cinnamon and nutmeg. He cooked the apples and zucchinis in the lemon/apple juice for about 10 minutes and poured it into a baking dish. He then mixed the oats and syrups together with the margarine in a food processor and spread it over the top of the apples....baked it for about 20 minutes and then cooled in the refrigerator. It was DELICIOUS!
Eric used all very simple ingredients and made an absolutely delicious meal. When he was making the salad using the Swiss chard, fennel and beets, people weren't quite sure if they would like it...of course, most of us are used to lettuce, tomatoes and a few other vegetables on top for our salad....however, this was absolutely delicious and EVERYONE, loved it!! He used a food processor to chop everything so the raw beets were shredded and they were amazing.
So, we had a meal using very simple ingredients found in the everyday average grocery store or, if you are lucky enough to have one, a garden. People frequently ask if they have to eat 100% plant based to get the benefits. My answer to that is, of course if you are eating more vegetables and fruits and less of the foods that are giving us very little benefit, and keeping us fat and sick, that's better than no vegetables and fruits. HOWEVER, once you eliminate the processed foods and animal products, your TASTE BUDS with CHANGE. That's a fact! We begin to acquire NEW TASTES that actually CRAVE the good foods. A good analogy would be a cigarette smoker asking if they have to give up ALL cigarettes or just some. No one would say to a 2 pack a day smoker to just smoke a 1/2 a pack of cigarettes everyday and you'll be fine. Of course they NEED to give up cigarettes COMPLETELY....but, smoking 1/2 a pack a day is much better than smoking two packs a day....the person is still putting toxins in their body. It's much easier to go 100% than 95% because you are much more likely to succeed in the long run.
Another topic of discussion last night was if eating this way was considered vegetarian or vegan. I really don't like to use either of those terms because the definition of being a vegetarian just means you don't eat any meat or fish. The term vegan means you don't eat any meat, fish or dairy. Both of these terms tell us what we don't eat....however, using the term Whole Food Plant Based tells us a person eats "whole food"...foods that are NOT processed, and "plant-based" means all the vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds that come from the plant kingdom....so Whole Food Plant Based tells us all the foods we DO EAT. This is not a "diet" of what we don't eat, but a "diet" of abundance!
When following a Whole Food Plant Based diet you are eating all the foods from the plant kingdom without having to worry about counting calories, fats, carbs, etc. You eat REAL WHOLE FOOD until you are full. When you eat the food that your body NEEDS, not only will your health SOAR, but the numbers on the SCALE will drop like a rock....you don't even have to really TRY.....the pounds just MELT off. It's truly AMAZING.
Try following a diet that consists of loads of vegetables and fruits, and eliminate the animal products..... the difference you will FEEL eating this way will motivate you to continue. Of course, the longer you eat this way, the better you will feel and the more your health will improve.
Pills just do not SOLVE anything, they treat the SYMPTOMS AND CURE NOTHING....however, the POWER of NUTRITION has the ability to PREVENT disease, STOP disease, and REVERSE damage done by disease, (in most cases) as nature designed it to do. People just do not realize how powerful food can be.
So, get rid of the foods that are making you feel tired, lethargic, achy, sick and bloated. Eat all the foods you want from the plant kingdom...the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in all these foods will start to MOP UP all the toxins and extra fat cells and help your body get rid of them.
Once you are eating for your HEALTH and not feeding DISEASE, the results will amaze you! If you need help in anyway transitioning to this way of eating, let me know...I would love to get you on the ROAD TO RECOVERY!!!
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