Coconut Curry Greens April 12, 2011

Ingredients:

1-2 bunches of kale, red chard, rainbow chard, yellow chard or spinach

3-4 Tbsps. of butter or ghee

1 cup coconut milk

1-2 Tbsps of red curry paste, green curry paste or madras curry powder

1 tsp of lime juice(optional)

Directions:

Remove center vein from kale, or chard as it is tough and bitter.

Melt butter or ghee over med-high heat. Place greens in pan and cover. Steaming greens for 3-4 minutes, until limp. Stir half way through to be sure all pieces are thoroughly cooked.

Pour 1 cup of coconut milk in pan and increase heat to high for 1-2 minutes until milk is bubbling. At this point add curry and stir until completely mixed. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 3 minutes.

Add teaspoon of lime juice stir and serve. (optional)

Roasted Cauliflower florets and crispy Leek rings

Makes 4 to 5 Servings

Ingredients

One small to medium cauliflower

3 Medium leeks

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon pepper/sea salt combo

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Cut the cauliflower into medium florets.   Slice the white part of the leek into thin rounds, breaking them into little “rings.”  and rinse. Place the cauliflower, leek, oil, and pepper/salt combo in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and toss to coat evenly with the oil.  Bake until the cauliflower starts to brown and the leek “rings” become crispy, 35 to 40 minutes.  Stir the vegetables halfway through to ensure even cooking.

Nutrition Information per Serving

80 calories, 6g fat, 1g saturated fat, 150mg sodium, 6g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 1g protein, 50% vitamin C

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Kick

2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon Madras Curry powder

1 teaspoon Persian pepper mix 1 cup barbeque sauce* (Added to BBQ sauce-Aardvark habanero sauce to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Prepare grill for indirect heat.
2.	Tenderize meat and then rub both sides with garlic powder,Madras Curry, and Persian pepper mix.
3.	Lightly oil grate. Place tenderloin on grate, and position drip pan under meat. Cook over indirect heat for 30 minutes.
4.	Brush tenderloin with barbeque sauce*. Continue cooking for 15 minutes, or to desired doneness. Slice pork, and serve.

 

P90X-Week One Complete

Well today marks the beginning of week 2 of my P90X study. After having completed week one I have to say the workouts are challenging and I can’t imagine being able to complete them if you didn’t have a good base level of strength and fitness. I was definitely sore after each workout, not incapacitated but aware of the muscles I had used. It was the perfect balance of sore but inspired to continue. The only workout I skipped was the yoga on Wednesday. I had a little too much wine the night before at my belated birthday celebration and just didn’t have it in me to workout. It’s important to listen to your body and know when to slow down. The workout should be looked at as a base to work from but not something cast in stone. Always modify as you need to make it your workout. That is the attitude I am following in both the workout and diet. I am performing the exercises as dictated but modifying if past injury or physical health demands it. The diet I am following but taking into consideration my food allergies and limitations, as well as my past eating disorder and need to control food. It has been a good eye opener on what I was eating too much of and what I wasn’t getting enough of . I am now eating every couple of hours and have increased my water intake on a daily basis. I definitely feel the benefits of both and I look forward to see how it all comes along in the next 30, 60 and 90 days. I will keep you posted on my progress and give examples of workouts incase you want to follow along.

Cheers and happy sweating!!!

Day 4, 5 and beyond March 29, 2011

Hello folks,

So I survived the 5 day juice fast. Day 4 was probably the worst energetically and emotionally. I started out the day with my usual glass of plain water  and a glass with half a lemon squeezed into it. I followed that with Master cleanse, detox tea, green tea, EVOLUTION FRESH SUPER GREEN, and water. I have to say I didn’t enjoy the EVOLUTION FRESH SUPER GREEN as much as the COLUMBIA ORGANICS SUPER GREEN. It wasn’t as flavorable and almost tasted bland or flat in comparison. My lunch time choice is where the problems started. I usually had a HEAVENLY HEMP JUICE from HEALEO for lunch, but I was downtown for work and that was nowhere to be found. I instead opted for a fresh blended fruit juice from a stand at PIKE PLACE MARKET. It believe it was the lack of protein that sent me into a downward spiral the rest of the afternoon. I continued to drink my veggie juices, water and tea in the afternoon but felt light-headed, dizzy and anxious. Upon arriving home I had a complete meltdown and realized that not having that protein boost midday was a complete mistake. My body needs that to get through my physical activities and long days. Needless to say I did not make the same mistake on Day 5, but I was still feeling the effects of my error throughout the morning on Friday.

Day 5, the final and last day of my juicing adventure. Day 5 started out rough but around 11 I walked over to HEALEO and got my HEAVENLY HEMP. It tasted fabulous as usual and by the afternoon I was feeling the effects of my added calories and protein. Thank god for that. The rest of Day 5 continued with the usual suspects until about dinner when I upped the ante and had puree of pea soup. It was warm, filling and tasty just what the doctor ordered. The doctor being my stomach and my intuition. I felt ready to be done. My body felt like it cleansed all it needed too and we were ready to move slowly into the transition phase.

The transition phase happens in steps. The length of each step varies based on how long you fasted, how you fasted and how well your digestive tract works. I fasted for 5 days on juice and my digestive tract, well, not so good. That being said my transition phase will be a little more drawn out. Day 6 and 7 started with the 2 glasses of water one with lemon and one without followed by some sort of fruit puree. I chose an unsweetened, organic applesauce. It’s easy to digest and tasty. I followed this 30 minutes later with a sliced asian pear. When adding solid food for the first time you have to chew 20-30x each bite to make it easily digestible. Around noon I had more of my BOLT HOUSE FARMS mixed fruit and veggie green juice. This plus a little tea and water held me over until the late afternoon when I had steamed veggies with Vietnamese seasoning. That was the best ever. I couldn’t eat much but it was such a nice treat to have warm, solid food. (Day 6/7 were basically the same diet each day but the types of veggies and seasonings changed.) As my week goes along I will continue to add items as my stomach feels ready. Today I tried a couple of pieces of tempeh in my steamed greens and tomorrow I will try some non-glutenous grains. If that goes well, I will continue to slowly add items that are harder to digest and make note of how I feel. It is very important in this stage to listen to your body and to learn how it feels after certain foods. This is a time when you can assess food allergies and reactions without it being masked by other things in your system.

So what is my final synapses on the experience as a whole? It was great!! I definitely prefer the juice fast to strictly MASTER CLEANSE. I like to keep MASTER CLEANSE as a component but I like the variety of greens, veggies and fruits to round out the meals and keep my body in both physical and mental balance. For me this type of cleanse was the best choice and I would definitely do it again.

Thanks for following me on my journey and next up is Colon Hydrotherapy. The perfect mate to fasting and cleansing.

Trust, Believe, Live

 

Juice Fast Days 2 & 3 March 24, 2011

Folks sorry for the delay. I had a ridiculously long day on Tuesday and well, yesterday wasn’t much better.  So here it is Day 4 and I’m feeling great. A little mentally jonesed for solid food but physically I feel amazing. I haven’t been hungry and my energy level has been pretty even. Day 2 was exactly the same as Day 1, except in the late afternoon I had a combo of Greens and homemade Tomato Juice with Lemon. The tang of the tomato and lemon help to wash down the bitterness of my last 8oz of Columbia Gorge Organics Leafy Greens. Sure, I got 1lb of green vegetables in that glass but it was not tasty. Imagine a combo of dirt and the bitterness of celery leaf or root. YUM!!! I think the mixture would taste much better with more cucumber and less celery, but they didn’t ask for my recipe.

Day 3, I eliminated the Columbia Gorge Organics Leafy Greens and replaced it with Columbia Gorge Organics Carrot, Beet, Celery. Much better, but almost too sweet. I’m beginning to think the two mixed together would be perfect, though a very ugly shade of olive, brownish, green. My day ended with the wonderful treat of cashew milk with agave, vanilla and cinnamon. That has got to be the best part of the day. That is definitely something I will keep in my diet after the cleanse and I’m thinking it might be tasty with a little kahlua added. A kind of vegan white russian.

Well, that’s it for now. I will tune back in to give you the continued low down on Day 4 and Day 5. 

Like me on FB at Heather Parsons Body Principles for more updates, recipes and local fitness/foodie happenings.

Ciao,

HP

5 Day Juice Fast-Day One March 22, 2011

So today began day one of my 5-Day Juice Fast. I have done many different fasts, the tried and true Master Cleanse, juice fasts, smoothie fasts and the easy one, veggies, whole fruits and whole grains. The latter is the best to start out with. It’s the easiest to achieve and doesn’t seem as overwhelming as no solid food at all. This time I have chosen the basic juice fast, which I will detail below. It’s more enjoyable than straight Master Cleanse since you get a variety of flavors throughout the day and it gives you something to look forward to.

Today I started my day with 2 glasses of water, one with a 1/2 a lemon squeezed in it. This was followed by 20 0z of Detox tea and 16 oz of Master Cleanse. (Yes, Master Cleanse is still part of the fast it’s just not the main focus.) Around 9am I had my first fruit/veggie juice combo. More fruit less veggie, which is far tastier than the other way around. I was allowed several 6-8 ounce glasses which could be diluted up to 50% with water. I chose to use Columbia Gorge Organic Juices, Naked Juice, Bolthouse Farms and Evolution juices as my sources. It is best to have freshly made juice but these are great substitutes if that’s not possible. Around noon I stopped into Healeo for a fresh kale, papaya and banana smoothie with a dash of hemp protein. I add add’l protein when doing a fast due to the nature of my business and the fact I’m not trying to lose weight, but just give my body a rest from solid food. Between noon and 3 I drank herbal tea and water. Three o’clock was the dreaded all leafy greens juice. Don’t get me wrong, leafy greens are fabulous when added to fruit, sweeter veggie juices and when consumed in solid form but as a juice on it’s own it’s a little bitter. This particular juice I had to choke down but fortunately only 8oz. Praise the tiny baby jesus for that one. I don’t think I could’ve consumed much more except with a little tabasco but that would’ve been the only way. Now onto the best part of the day, the dinner juice. I say best part because it looks like a latte and tastes like a comforting bowl of rice pudding with cinnamon. The juice, homemade cashew milk with agave, vanilla and cinnamon. This I’m allowed 12-16oz and after that it’s herbal tea and water for the rest of the night. I will include the recipe below, it’s quite tasty. For variety I heated it a little. This helped to soften the cashews for blending and gave it more of a comforting feel.

Well that’s about it for day one. I feel pretty good. I had a bit of a headache earlier but that seems to subsided. My back is starting to feel a lot better which is a relief from the past week. I am now off to do a dry skin brushing, take a hot/cold mix shower and call it day. Day two here I come.

Almost Just Like Blueprint Cleanse Cashew Milk

1 cup raw cashews
4 cups water
3 tablespoons agave, or to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
optional to make chai: 1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, ginger and cardamom

1. Soak cashews in water overnight. ( or bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, covered for about 20 minutes)

2. Blend cashews and their water in a blender until smooth. If desired, strain through cheesecloth. (Cashews are soft enough that they blend almost completely into a liquid, so straining isn’t really necessary. I only sort-of strained it this time, and next time I probably won’t bother. The result is a kind of “chewy” drink, but I don’t mind that. Protein!)

3. Stir in remaining ingredients. To stay true to Blueprint, add only agave, vanilla and cinnamon. To take it up a notch, make it chai by adding the remaining spices.

 

 

Presidents Day Urban Adventure February 20, 2011

Are you looking for something to do tomorrow? Well I have the answer for you, Presidents Day Urban Adventure.
WHERE: Gasworks Park, Seattle, WA
TIME: 5:30 pm
COST: $20/drop in, but for the month of February bring a friend and it’s 2 for 1. Punch cards available.
WHAT: This is an all levels mixed cardio and strength training workout for both men and women. All equipment is provided. I just ask that you bring a mat, water and a towel. (towel is optional, and extra mats are available.)

So come down and get your sweat on while at the same time.having fun.

I’ll be waiting!

Back on the blogging wagon February 2, 2011

Hey gang,

Sorry I’d seemed to disappear. Life got crazy after April 2010. My fiance and I moved to a larger house with a huge yard for us and our 5 dogs. Yes that’s right 5 dogs, 1 lab and 4 chihuahuas. If that wasn’t enough there was just the day to day craziness of running my business and trying to keep up with classes, clients and Urban Adventures. I loved every minute of it but felt at times like it was a game of catch up and what never got caught up was this blog.

I am now in a much more relaxed place. I have given myself mandatory breaks and short days instead of being available 6am-8pm, 5 days a week and 6am-2pm on Saturdays. That was running me into the ground and on the fast track  to burnout.

Now that my days are shorter, I have had time to get back to not only this blog but to cooking which I will share with you both in recipes and photos.

Well it’s great to be back but I’m going to keep this one short. I will be back tomorrow with a workout and recipe for the week.

Happy Sweating in 2011.

WINETASTING EVENT IN YAKIMA!!!!! April 13, 2010

Winetasting Event Schedule
Hey Winos, Hikers and all those that fall in between,

Wine Tasting and Hike in Yakima
For those of you who missed our first Weekend Adventure now is your chance to redeem yourselves and take part in Weekend Adventure #2. This adventure will step it up a notch both logistically and gastronomically. Our 2nd adventure is going to be a trip to the Wilridge Winery’s Vineyard, located in Yakima, Washington. At their vineyard we will take a short hike from the vineyard down and along the canyon below. The hike will be approximately 60-90 minutes, details to follow. After which we will enjoy a wine education and tasting of 5 wines put on by Damon Lobato. Lunch will be included in our days festivities to compliment our wine tasting. ( Lysle and Paul, owners of the winery, have been kind enough to NOT CHARGE us for the tasting but hope in return that you purchase some wine to take home with you. )

WHEN: Saturday May 15th., depart Seattle at 9a.m., return in the early evening.
HOW: Depending on numbers we will either carpool or hire a van to take us there.
COST: $55 Per Person/ $100 Couple
MINIMUM ATTENDANCE: 8 People

DEADLINE for sign up: Monday, May 3rd by 9p.m. If I don’t get enough people signed up by Monday, May 3rd at 9p.m. the trip will be canceled.

Heather Parsons
HEPfish Body Principles