Tools for a Protective Diet

I have to admit that you will need more tools to cook healthy than to eat freezer meals or canned soups. Over the last 9 months, I've been gradually adding more items to my kitchen to help me prepare meals.

Here's some of the things I've purchased that I think you'll need

• 2 Silicon Baking Mats (Buy these right away...these are very important when not cooking with oil) and 2 baking pans
• Sharp knives for chopping
• Storage containers (I like the 4 cup glass bowls with plastic lids for soups and salads for lunch. I find I need more containers now that I did before for storing food.)
• Blender - One day I'll get a high speed blender, but so far I have a Ninja Mega Kitchen System
• Silicon muffin liners (a silicon muffin or ceramic pan would work also, but these were a lot cheaper).
• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring spoons and cups 
• Rolling Pin
• Pots and pans for cooking soups/onions, etc.

These are not essential but I like to have

• Instant Pot (pressure cooker for making rice, vegetable broth, etc.) 
• Cutting board
• 1 Gallon paint strainer (I picked this up just recently to make Rice Milk).
• Cast Iron tortilla press (this was only $20 at Amazon. I used my points and have already recouped my cost by not buying premade corn tortilla shells since January.)
• Food processor
• Flour sack towels (for wrapping and storing your herbs and green onions)

Protective Diet Education - Teleclass every Tuesday

Tuesday Live Teleclass at 8pm CT.

When you join Protective Diet Premium Recipes you also get access to Protective Diet Education which includes Tuesday weekly teleclasses and 74 archive teleclass videos (all an hour long). This week's class is Oven tips.

If you are unable to watch at that time, they are always recorded and added to the archive section. If you are able to join along, you are able to learn and chat along with others all over the world. You can ask your questions on the topic in the chat box that she can answer for you during the class.

You'll find she has lots of great tips to help you save money and keep your fridge, freezer and pantry stocked. My favorite topics to date were'Beans, Beans, Beans.', Protective Diet spices, and PD Staples are stocked.

Keep track of what you eat!

 My Food Journal

I found it helpful to write down what I eat each day especially since I'm very new to a Protective Diet. I find that it makes me more accountable for what I'm putting in my mouth. I bought myself a spiral fat book on February 6th to keep right in my purse. Each day has a dedicated page.

I make three columns on each sheet

• food/drink
• was it PD
• count of vegetables/fruit

 For example, February 17th was Fat Tuesday and I can see that I slipped. This was my journal for that day:

• Tea
• Oats        
• SoyMilk
• Frozen berries                                    1
• Cooked apples                                    1
• Paczki (bad)              NO
• Mixed vegetables                               1
• Potatoes
• Tea
• Spinach/Romaine Salad with Veg     2
• Sloppy Jerries                                    1
• Whole wheat P.D. Burger Bun
• Tea

 Paczki's

I come from a Polish heritage and Fat Tuesday is the day for Paczki's. This is a pastry similar to a doughnut that my grandma would spend hours making and then cooked them in oil. The traditional reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because their consumption was forbidden by Catholic fasting practices during Lent. My non-polish mother tried to learn how to make them from my grandmother, but they were a lot of work. It was a special treasure if grandma sent some to us that day.

A co-worker/friend brings them into work each year for our entire team. In my head a little voice said  "it is something I indulge in only once a year". On one hand, I almost felt like I was letting down my deceased Polish grandma looking down at me from heaven and my co-worker if I didn't eat it. On the other hand, I was letting down my body if I did eat it. It was a strange mental struggle. Yes, I joined in on that Fat Tuesday celebration and yes I wrote it down in my food journal. I did select and eat one Paczki that morning from the deli box, although I felt horribly guilty afterward. Now that I look at that page, I feel bad that I wasn't strong enough to just say "No thank you".

Focusing on the good

On  the other hand, when I look at my journal page, I can see a rough number of fruits and vegetables that I consumed on that Tuesday. In previous years in winter, the number of fresh fruits and vegetables consumed would have been maybe zero or one. When you are consuming meat, cheese, and dairy your grocery bill is expensive$$ and you don't have money left over for the fresh fruits and vegetables section. I avoided that section like a plague. If I bought anything during the winter it might have been a tomato, iceburg lettuce, a bag of oranges or a couple apples. Since last May, I always have spinach, kale, romaine/mixed greens and other colors in my fridge. I calculated that I probably ate 6 that day which is just amazing to me. It is definitely cheaper to buy these fresh items in the summer, plus they taste better in the summer, but it's now a special treat for me to eat the rainbow all year.

Each day is a new food challenge so that's why I record my food journal for me. Do you use a food journal? Does it help you stay accountable?

Kale is the bomb!!

My first adventure with kale

It's a little embarrassing to admit that I had never purchased kale before the Summer of 2014. At first, I played it very safe. I made kale smoothies hiding it with sugar and frozen fruit. I got a little adventurous with kale chips, but then I read an article about kale being bad if you had thyroid problems. I was having my thyroid tested so I pretty much gave up kale. I decided that Spinach would be safer. After getting the results that my thyroid was normal and joining Protective Diet, I'm happy to report that I'm eating kale again.

Trying kale a second time

This time, I'm find that I like kale in different recipes. For example, I now eat and enjoy kale for breakfast. It makes for a quick and different breakfast when I need a change from oats. I always have cooked potatoes on hand. I heat up the potatoes in the oven while I shower. I then chop up my potatoes into little pieces and mix up my kale and Protective Diet Daily Dressing in a bowl. It's a warm tasty treat for a Michigan winter morning.

Keeping cooked potatoes always on hand

This is a trick I learned either in December or January. I cook up 5-6 potatoes at a time in my Instant Pot; then store them in my fridge. I'm able to add them to salads  to bulk them up or just have them handy for a snack. (I just eat them cold at my desk or on my commute home.) Potatoes are so economical to buy, easy to find at my local grocery stores and easy to add to my diet. Potatoes are often on sale, so I pick up the bag that is on sale that week. I've gone thru a lot of potatoes since the beginning of the year. I haven't kept track of the number of pounds, but I know it has been a lot.

Free Live WebCast - Fundamentals of a Protective Diet

Research, Research, Research

I listen to Chef AJ's Teleclasses whenever I get a chance. It gives me an opportunity to continually learn while I'm working in the kitchen or driving. I listen to other teleclasses even for diets I'm not interested in like Paleo, Mediterranean, Engine 2 Diet, Macrobiotic, Grain Brain, Natural and Organic, Atkins, Juice detox diets and the Raw Rood diet. I don't like living in a bubble. Listen to all sides. Listen to what others believe and teach. I think it's important to have lots of information in your toolbox to make good decisions.

I figured out by researching that there are patterns to the diets above. Lot's of the diets above are plant based where each are developed with just a different twist.Some diets have actual doctors with research that you can look up, but others do not. I honestly knew very little about most of the diets a year and a half ago. Atkins was the no bread diet in my mind. I knew there were vegetarians but I didn't really hear about starch plant based diets. I don't ever see my research stopping. I am continuing to learn something new each day.
 

Julie talks with Chef AJ

One week Chef AJ had Julie Marie from Protective Diet. This webcast took place on December 15, 2014. So sometime after that I listened to the teleclass and got interested in learning more about her Protective Diet.

Fundamentals of a Protective Diet

Then I watched the free video Free Live WebCast - Fundamentals of a Protective Diet. This is a great start for anyone to learn about this new way of eating. Julie Marie's PD diet is a plant based starch based diet.She talks about why this diet removes such as include nuts, fats, sugar, food additives, etc. You do eat lot's of whole foods (wonderful fruits, vegetables, beans) and  whole grains (brown rice, whole grain pasta, whole wheat). You are eating foods to help protective your body from diseases and toxic chemicals. She also covers how her life style differs from other plant based diets.This is a not a change for a short period of time, this is a way of life.

How has a PD Lifestyle affected me? I lost all that baby weight!

Even if you are not interested in a plant based diet, I invite you to listen to this video to learn more about why I eat this way. Each of us are on our own path and no one can make you do something you don't want to do. I just want to share with you a life style that I found earlier this year that has made dramatic changes in my life. I wish I had found this way of eating years ago!!

• I have lost weight without even trying. This has never happened before!! 
• My husband keeps telling me I look sexy. He said just the other day that I look just like when he met me in 1991. This makes me feel very good to hear.
• My skin looks AMAZING (the best in 40 years). 
• I sleep every night like I never have before, plus I am NOT starving myself; even though my mother thinks I must be ("since I'm so skinny").
• I now fall on the lower end of the weight/height chart. I'm finally right where I'm supposed to be. I fit in the clothes I did before I had babies and I feel wonderful!

Friday's in Lent, what a challenge they were

I grew up Catholic and every year during lent we had the hardest time trying to find meatless dishes. My mom was like 'what are we going to eat?'. 

Really for her there are only two options: eggs or fish. You have to have the main meat or meat fill in (eggs or fish) and then the side dishes. It was a horrible challenge we dreaded each year.

Now I  think, "OMG!, there are so many meatless options for Lent, what where we thinking all those years?"

In fact, I had this conversation with my mom again last week. I said "Mom, there are so many options!", but I don't think she takes me seriously. Where would she get her protein?

I think Fridays in Lent are a perfect time for my family (yes mom, that includes you) to try healthy vegan dishes.

Some simple ideas to start with:

• chowders/soups
•  meatless pasta dishes
• salads
• stir-fry

Some more complex dishes might be some bean dishes such as:

• beef-less tacos
• Mini Burgers
• Mexican Pizza

To begin looking for recipes, sign up for a login at the Protective Diet website. You can search for recipes by name or ingredients or just go up to the top and select All Recipes. All recipes lets you look for recipes by category. My first time on the site I went directly to Soup and Stew since that's my comfort food. I make soups all year long. Probably because I find soups go a long way. I cook on one day and eat for many. If I'm over three meals on a dish, I usually freeze the left overs for another day.

I no longer find meatless Fridays in Lent a challenge.

It's the first day of Spring, Yeah!

Yeah! It's the first day of Spring. 

 

Here in Michigan, that means that we will be getting less snow soon. It was actually above freezing today. It was supposed to get to 50, but only made it in the 40s. I had high hopes of finally walking outside, but it's also dreary and raining. We still even have snow on the ground and 30 inches of ice on our lake.

I have to admit. . . I've been thinking about my garden already, though. We usually put plants in the ground after June 1st. This year, I plan on having more herbs. In the fall, I brought my parsley and mint inside. I've been able to keep them alive thru the winter. It's so fun having herbs on hand to use in fall and winter dishes. This year I want to get rosemary, oregano, dill, and basil plants. I also need a couple more parsley plants since lots of recipes on the Protective Diet site call for parsley.

Last year we had good luck with green beans, carrots, radishes and zucchini. Our tomatoes, squash, cauliflower, potatoes and cauliflower did not do very well.

My Favorite vegetable is zucchini. 

I never had too many. I never got sick of eating zucchini. I used my zucchini from my garden, my mom's garden, from the farmer's market and from the store. I experimented with lots of different recipes last year. I put some grated in the freezer, but I ran out way before November. So this year, I need to plant more and find new recipes that will qualify under a Protective Diet.

I might even be a little bit adventurous and try spinach, beets or lettuce. Do you have a garden? What do you grow?