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Office Joke or Morbid Statistic

November 14, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

Please welcome another great guest post from my husband Jim. You can read his story here. In short, he was able to get off all medications after switching to a plant-based diet. He is passionate about letting people know they can eliminate the need for most medications through healthy living.

When I first started eating a plant-based diet, as a man I drew a good amount of attention at the office…

So Jim, why did you go from a hunter to a gatherer? …Your health, no laughing matter

I think I can take a joke as well as the next guy but some of the jokes were about manhood and off-color and hitting below the belt… well kind of… A deathly serious problem for men in America is Erectile Dysfunction, according to a leading expert in nutrition and health, Dr. Mark Fuhrman, ED is the first clinical manifestation of Cardiovascular Disease. Cardiovascular Disease remains our nation’s biggest killer, responsible for about one-third of the deaths in this country. Dr. Fuhrman further shows that there is a strong relationship between ED and high blood pressure, high cholesterol, angina, stroke, heart attack and premature death. So really, if I continued to eat the Standard American Diet (SAD), I, like millions of other Americans would be heading down a path that leads to destruction, no thanks. My health is no laughing matter and neither is yours.

Take the jokes from the guys, your wife and family will thank you for it

When I initially went plant-based, not only was I being supportive of my wife’s quest for good health and getting healthier myself, I also started to lose a significant amount of weight. I not only felt better and younger, I also looked better. The better I felt, the more active I became and the more active I became the better I felt. Quality time with my family was truly filled with quality. I have a great friend who is 20 years my junior, we were at a get together recently where we were playing with our young children on floor and it was caught on video. That awesome time, would not have happened before my diet lifestyle change.

The CDC, has a bunch of morbid statistics on unavoidable tragedies as well as avoidable tragedies

The best way to lower your risk of health related tragedies is to focus on a plant-based (nutrient rich) diet and exercise. The CDC and other entities have a bunch of different morbid statistics on deaths in this country, by age, gender, causes… If those statistics weren’t enough, in my own personal history and that of my family, there are many reasons for me to adopt this diet lifestyle change. I want to honor my Lord and Savior, Jesus with being a good steward of this body that he has given me. I also want to be a great husband to my great wife and a great father to my great kids, I can’t do that if I’m dead. I don’t want to die of an avoidable tragedy. I don’t want to be another statistic.

Struggle is OK, giving up is not.

As I’ve written in previous posts, I struggle at times just like anyone else with eating a non-nutritious meal (pancakes and French fries come to mind right now actually) and struggle is OK. Your health however, is too important to give up on. Take the ribbing, eat healthy anyway.

The Empty Medicine Cabinet Giveaway

October 31, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 28 Comments

Since transitioning to a plant-based diet in 2011 I’ve read a lot of books on healthy living. I can see almost 20 books from where I sit and there are more scattered throughout the house and on loan to friends. The Empty Medicine Cabinet: The Pharmacist’s Guide to the Hidden Danger of Drugs and the Healing Powers of Food by Dustin Rudolph, PharmD is the one book you need to read and buy for your loved ones.

Why This Book?

There are a lot of reasons this book stands out from the crowd.

It was written by a pharmacist who understands the “disease climate” we face today
It’s full of inspiring stories from people who have reversed disease
It provides solutions to help you make lasting changes

The Pill Trap

To often we feel stuck in our situation. If you have heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or a host of other illnesses you get stuck in what Dustin Rudolph calls “The Pill Trap. ” He writes,

As a patient, you’re only an asset to Big Healthcare if you linger between perfectly healthy and dead. Having a chronic disease requires continuous medical care involving costly follow-up visits, medications, and many different procedures over time. This is great news for the pharmaceutical industry, medical supply companies, and healthcare organizations because you’re now a customer for life.

This book grabs you by the shoulders and gently shakes that nonsense out of you. You do not have to be a slave to your illness. Many diseases can be reversed or stopped by making changes to your lifestyle.

Stories of Hope

There are many uplifting stories in this book from people who have made incredible strides in their health through diet change. My favorite story is Bev’s. She was able to drastically turn around her health problems which included coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, kidney disease and many other issues by adopting a whole food, plant-based diet (in her 70s). If she can do it, you can do it.

Solutions

Part 2 of The Empty Medicine Cabinet provides real world ways to make healthy changes including information about what you need to eat, what you should avoid and a guide to help you make those decisions for yourself. Part 3 is full of delicious, healthy recipes including a few from your’s truly.

If a friend asked me for a book recommendation for someone interested in a plant-based diet I would wholeheartedly say The Empty Medicine Cabinet is a must read.

I’m partnering with Dustin to make sure one lucky reader gets a copy of The Empty Medicine Cabinet: The Pharmacist’s Guide to the Hidden Danger of Drugs and the Healing Powers of Food.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This book will be shipped to the winner (US only). The winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond or anther winner will be chosen.

You can read more from Dustin at his website Pursue A Healthy You!

I was given a free copy of this book as a gift. I provided a few recipes for this book but I am not being compensated for this review. All opinions are my own. You can read another review I wrote on Amazon. This page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using a link I may make a small percentage of the sale.

21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge

October 30, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 5 Comments

Do you struggle with your Plant-Based Diet? You are not alone. I hear from people all of the time who are having a hard time sticking to (or starting) a plant-based diet.

21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge

Starting November 1st I’ll begin a 21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge and I’d love for you to join me.

The Guidelines

There aren’t a lot of rules but there are guidelines. They can be adapted to meet your particular needs. For example if you can’t tolerate grains then adapt this to your needs. If you are like me and thrive with grains eat more. If you need more calories eat nuts, seeds, avocado, etc. If you need to lose weight omit those high calorie plant-foods.

“Headquarters” for the Challenge will be at The My Plant-Based Family Group (not the page).

Each day I’ll create a thread and you’ll report in and tell me how many points you earned for the day. I’ll keep a tally and each week I’ll (discretely) post the rankings for example John S., Suzy Q., Jane D. I’m working on arranging giveaways from sponsors for participants.

If there is an interest we will have weekly Video Chat using Google Hangouts where you can ask questions and get support.

About the Food

How can I eat that much food? For the purposes of this Challenge consider 1/2 cup to be a serving size, except for raw greens (those are 1 cup serving size). Let’s look at one possibility of a typical day.

Breakfast

1 cup of Oatmeal, with 1/2 cup of blueberries

[2 servings grains, 1 serving fruit]

Mid-Morning Snack

A Banana

[1 serving fruit]

Lunch

Burrito Bowl with 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup black beans, 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup diced tomatoes/onion/peppers (salsa) and one apple

[1 serving grains, 1 serving beans, 2 servings veggies, 1 serving fruit]

Mid-Afternoon Snack

1 cup raw veggies like carrots, peppers, cucumbers etc. with 1/2 cup (oil-free) hummus and 1/2 cup of grapes

[1 serving veggies, 1 serving beans, 1 serving fruit]

Dinner

Chickpea Noodle Soup, side salad and a baked Cinnamon Apple

[1 serving beans, 2 serving veggies, 1 serving fruit]

This menu is roughly 5 servings of fruit, 6 servings of veggies, 3 servings of grains and 3 servings of beans. Our goal will be to eat 90% unprocessed plant-based foods.

To “sign-up” simply Join the My Plant-Based Family Facebook Group. There will be a post “pinned” to the top, read it and comment appropriately. Each day you’ll report in and I’ll dispense information via the group. If there is an overwhelming amount of people not on facebook that want to participate I’ll consider a Google+ group for the Challenge.

Please note that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. You should consult your doctor or registered dietitian for nutritional advice.

Fiesta Pasta

October 29, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 13 Comments

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a long time, like over a year. My apologies. I think you will agree that it is worth the wait. I’m the kind of girl who loves a vegan, gluten-free, nut-free pasta that tastes like it belongs in a restaurant. It’s also soy-free if that is important to you.

What’s better than pasta? Pasta with Mexican flare. I often use macaroni noodles and call this Fiesta Mac but you use whichever noodles you like but if you are feeding toddlers small noodles are usually best.

Fiesta Pasta

Ingredients for the sauce

2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour*
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant-milk

Ingredients for the pasta

1 package (16 oz) Gluten-Free Pasta (any shape)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup organic corn (I use frozen)
1 cup diced tomatoes

*cornstarch can be used instead

Do

Dump all of the dry ingredients for the sauce into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Pour in 1/2 cup plant-milk and stir with a whisk.
In a separate pot bring water to boil to cook pasta. Follow the package directions.
Alternate between whisking the sauce and scraping the bottom with a silicone spatula. As the sauce thickens add another 1/2 cup of plant milk until the full 1 1/2 cups is used.
Pour beans and corn into the pasta in its last few minutes of cooking time.
Drain pasta (and corn and beans), pour Fiesta Sauce on top of pasta and mix well.
Dump tomatoes on top and mix one more time.

Serve

Fiesta Pasta is perfect for a potluck and can be used as the Main Dish or a Side Dish! The Fiesta Sauce gives it just the right amount of cheezy flavor without the dairy. You can also add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce (no need to change other measurements, just cook it a bit longer) for a slightly more savory flavor.

This recipe made me fall in love with nutritional yeast all over again. You can easily alter it to suit your preferences.

Yield: 4 Servings

Fiesta Pasta

Pasta with a Mexican flare! Fiesta Pasta is Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-Free and Nut-Free

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour or Corn Starch
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant-milk
1 package (16 oz) Gluten-Free Pasta (any shape)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup organic corn (I use frozen)
1 cup diced tomatoes

Instructions

Dump all of the dry ingredients for the sauce into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Pour in 1/2 cup plant-milk and stir with a whisk.
In a separate pot bring water to boil to cook pasta. Follow the package directions.
Alternate between whisking the sauce and scraping the bottom with a silicone spatula. As the sauce thickens add another 1/2 cup of plant milk until the full 1 1/2 cups is used.
Pour beans and corn into the pasta in its last few minutes of cooking time.
Drain pasta (and corn and beans), pour Fiesta Sauce on top of pasta and mix well.
Dump tomatoes on top and mix one more time.

Notes

You can also add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce (no need to change other measurements, just cook it a bit longer) for a slightly more savory flavor.

Le Creuset Giveaway

October 18, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

It’s Fall and that means casseroles, well at least in my house. I love casseroles, they are at the top of my comfort food list. As the temperatures lower I love standing in my kitchen near a hot oven and coming up with new recipes.

I can’t (and won’t) tell you how many times I’ve finished off the casserole instead of putting the leftovers away. Yes, right out of the casserole dish. It just taste better that way.

That’s why I’m so excited about this Le Creuset Giveaway.

Soon the holidays will be upon us and we will be serving our families deliciously cooked meals. As a thank you for being faithful readers several of our blogging buddies have come together to host a fantastic giveaway that will help make your holiday dinners even more stunning!

Wouldn’t that look beautiful on your table this year? I think so too!

Epi-Family and Vegetarian Mamma, along with My Plant Based Family, Table for Seven, What the Fork Food Blog, My Gluten Free Kitchen, Flippin Delicious, I’m a Celiac and Life Made Sweeter have come together to offer this special giveaway.

One lucky US Winner (lower 48) will get a

Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware, 12-by-9-Inch Covered Rectangular Dish in Cherry Color

Entering is easy….
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Important things to know…This prize will be shipped to you directly from amazon. This giveaway is a thank you to our readers and is not affiliated with facebook, twitter, pinterest, instagram, rafflecopter or directly to any of the bloggers listed. The winner will be chosen at random by the widget. The winner will be contacted and given 48 hours to respond with their shipping information. If winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be randomly picked.

Meal Plan Monday: Fall Break Menu

October 6, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

It’s Fall Break so my kids are home from school this week. That means I’ll be doing a lot more cooking with at least 3 times as many interruptions. The weather has finally started to cool off meaning it’s not supposed to be in the 100s. That also means I’m back to using my oven. I’ve been testing a lot of new recipes that will go into an UPDATED version of my Thanksgiving Meal Plan! Stay tuned for more details. I’ve been sharing them on Facebook.

I’m also preparing some food for a Naturopathic Medicine Week Open House at Keystone Natural Family Medicine. If you live in the Phoenix area mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 8th and stop by between 3:00 and 6:00. There will be classes starting every 30 minutes and raffle prizes at the end. I’d love to meet you!