Flexitarian: A New Regime

At the tail end of my 3 month trial of Veganism, I finally came up with my sustainable food plan. Often during the trial I had friends and family think I was nuts. How could I possibly do this? How will I get my protein? Aren't you hungry? What the hell do you eat? All fair questions.

I have to say I was fairly devout. I really believed and still do in the benefits of being a Vegan. All that said I found one critical problem. I find all food interesting. I love watching the Food Network and I love eating at new restaurants. I was starting to feel like one of my critical passions was floating away. I could look but not touch. As an adult for sometime now (yes I know that sounds silly) I'm used to getting what I want when I want it. I'm the master of my domain. The day after Thanksgiving I had had it. I had just finished working out and I wanted eggs. Nothing could have stopped me from eating them.  And so my 100% Vegan journey ended.

Back to the plan. Identifying the problem led me to my 3 part solution:

1. Grocery shop Vegan foods for the home

2. Eat Vegetarian when eating at a restaurant

3. Eat Meat/Fish on special occasions (holidays, 3/4 star restaurants)

This allows me to intake about an 80-90% healthy diet and allows for 10-20% to feed my mind and soul.

I'm a few weeks in, so far so good.

Change is Necessary

Yesterday morning on the bus ride to work, I picked up the Red Eye to read per my usual routine and happened upon my horoscope that would hold the answers to what I was looking for as I head into 2014.

I love Astrology and Magic. We only have one life to live and I think that it's fun to believe. Maybe that's why I'm still a devoted Roman Catholic. I know it's a lot of smoke and mirrors and it has unanswered questions. That's OK. Any way, onto the Horoscope...it was dead on. And it's not the first time, here was yesterday's:

Sagittarius
You've gone through a lot of changes recently, thank to Mercury. Maybe you've decided to become vegan. Perhaps you're taking yoga. Or maybe you've simply chosen to let go of relationships with losers and energy vampires. Keep it up.

In my adult life I've thrived on change. I like new things, it gets you excited. It keeps you alive. In recent posts I've shared with you my Vegan journey. In the 3 month experiment I really immersed myself in food bloggers on Instagram, documentaries and a series of books. I learned a ton. I learned that if I truly want to live a long and healthy life I needed to make some changes and continually evolve. With that said, no one is perfect and I had my breakdowns. The important thing was figuring out the meaning of this journey. Making something real out of it. I think I've found it.

I'm changing my Account at work. I won't take you through the details of this change as this is not a business blog, but I may be getting the opportunity to work on a food account come the new year. I've worked in food before and I've always wanted to get back into it. I've devoted a lot of my free time to food. Cooking. Learning. Blogging. Watching. Experiencing. Eating. Working. You name it. I often feel like making a name for myself in the food industry is my destiny.

With the help of my Vegan experience, I feel that I have a starting point for where I want to take my next career move. I'm going to create change. I'm going to change human behavior.

A Very Vegan Thanksgiving

This a bit overdue but I'd be remiss to not document how I successfully made it through Thanksgiving without any meat products and a refusal to even consider Tofurkey.

Aperitif
Every good holiday starts with an afternoon champagne cocktail. Our traditional go to would be Prosecco w/ pomegranate which is always delish, but this being I think the peak of pumpkin mania, we went with a Pumpkin Pie spice cocktail.

Appetizers
My Mom had wanted to keep this simple which worked in my favor. We picked up a slew of marinated veggies from Standard market. Roasted peppers, artichoke, white bean and marinated mushrooms.

Dinner
After tooling around Vegan blogs for a while, I landed on this very simple Butternut Squash soup recipe. The key was to not burn the garlic! Please make note of the timing of the roasting.

The next thing I made was Brussel Sprouts. Funny thing about Brussel Sprouts is that my Dad banned them from the house for years....and now we all love them. We roasted then spiked up a bit with a lemon, dijon and thyme marinade.

I love sweet potatoes and I love marshmallows but for the love of god, they do not belong together!! Roast them with a bit of salt, pepper and rosemary and call it a day. I like to over cook mine and make them crispy.

There is nothing like summer corn on the cob, but frozen corn is a Thanksgiving staple. Just zap these puppies in the microwave with a bit of EVOO and Salt/Pepper.

My traditional annual contribution is cranberry sauce. This year I tested 2. One with sugar and one with agave. The difference is that with the sugar version you dissolve with the water first and with the Agave you add at the end.

Dessert

I searched for recipes for a full month. Since I ended with with 2 pie crusts I decided to land on 2 kinds. Both delicious, but in the end I found the Agave one better. And of course a dollop of Almond Dream Vanilla ice cream wouldn't hurt anyone.



Phew....OK so does it sound like I left the meal hungry?

The Workout crave

10 weeks ago I went Vegan. At about 5 weeks in I started battling a sinus infection, fairly common for me as a year round sufferer of allergies. The cold was on and off for 3 weeks due to my refusal to take antibiotics, the only known real "cure" for this type of infection. Musinex D is great at putting colds at bay but doesn't knock anything out completely. I hate taking antibiotics, simply put they destroy your gut...and circling back to the point of this blog, all I want is a healthy digestive system.

Alas I took the meds and the cold went away. With my sleep returned and energy restored, I started working out again. I typically work out 3-5 times a week and with the cold was down to about once a week. With this return I was presented with my next challenge, the "crave." Not the White Castle type but not too far off. I can't say what exactly I wanted but I'm pretty sure a burger would have satisfied it. 

As a result I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to combat my sugar and salty cravings. All vegan and gluten free of course.

Salty:

- Veggie sushi

- Roasted sweet potatoes dipped in ketchup (Annie's organic)

- Roasted Brussel Sprouts

- Amy's black been chili

- Amy's bean/rice burrito 

- Chipotle Veggie Bowl (brown rice, black beans, onion/peppers, tomato salsa, guacamole, lettuce)

- Urban Vegan Yellow curry w/ Tofu

- Roti Rice plate w/ veggies, hummus, tomato/cucumber salad, eggplant

- Protien Bar veggie chili quinoa bowl w/ sweet potato chips

Sweet:

- Swirlz Chocolate peanut butter cupcake

- Almond Dream Toffee Chocolate crunch ice cream

- So Delicious Mint chocolate chip ice cream

- Natures Path pumpkin waffles

I haven't completely beat the crave, but I'm not going hungry.

Vegucated

The title of this post has a few meanings. I was simply going to write about the documentary Vegucated that I watched this past weekend but it became so much more as I thought about it. I can't undo what I've learned in the past couple months. I can't pretend that I didn't watch this movie. I can't remove the words that I read from My Beef with Meat and The Kind diet from my brain. What's done is done.

Vegucated takes you on a 6 week journey where 3 avid meat eating New Yorkers learned about Veganism and everything that comes along with it. They went to farms, slaughter houses, educational seminars, food & clothing stores and of course consumed a Vegan only diet. The participants were in tears. I was in tears and I've been to slaughter houses. I know what it's like to be just steps away from where a stun gun is put to an animals head. My experience years back didn't stop me from eating meat, but I'll never forget the visions from those visits. What I maybe didn't realize was that I was going to some of the best of the best slaughter houses. In this documentary I saw the darker side and deeper view into the elements of the animal production process I didn't know about. I've been haunted by what they do to poor baby chicks. They put live chicks through machinery that looks the exact same as what you'd process candy or crackers with. I've saw pigs dipped into vats of boiling water. These are live animals we are talking about.

My Beef with Meat and The Kind Diet do a really great job of outlining the cause and effects that animals products have on our health and wellness. They outline how animals products cause all sorts of cancers and disease in just about every organ in our body. They share how the production process of animal products is depleting our natural resources like water and oxygen (that we need to stay alive!). Most importantly they share how every bit of a positive element that can be highlighted in an animal based diet can be replaced easily with a plant based diet.

There are few things that I just can't erase. I can't erase what the poultry industry does to baby chicks. I can't erase how female cows are continually impregnated until they are disposed. I can't erase the terrible physical feeling I had after having fish/dairy in my 24 hour relapse a few weeks back. I just can't. Not today.

Honey? Seriously?

Yes I'm that far gone. Well kind of. With Veganism, it's difficult to understand where it begins and ends.  I've questioned in the past week if I wanted to eat something based on a certain ingredient in a packaged food that had been tested on animals (according to a vegan online forum). Am I against fur? Am I against leather? Is my Veganism about my body or the bodies of animals? I don't know anymore.

What I do know is that I feel that to fairly call myself Vegan I have to abstain from eating anything that can live and die. Yes, I know you can say that about plants. If you don't feed them you can kill them. With that said, I'm going to go ahead and lump bees and their honey into the food ban list.

This past weekend my Dad proudly shared that he bought some Steve's sorbet for me. The flavor was Blackberry honey. Now I've had said sorbet before and I'm just not a fan. I think I've even blogged about this before. There are two camps of dessert people. Fruit or Chocolate/Creamy. I find sorbet's a bit too tart for my palette and prefer to have Almond Dream ice cream. When I declined the sorbet due to the honey not being Vegan my Dad gave me this look like "Seriously?!? Come on." I found the moment hysterical because for once I think he realized he created a monster. His influence has maybe taken me a step one too many. We shall see.

Ellen my Dietitian

This week at work we all received an email about a healthy living incentive program through our health benefits. You could receive up to $300 for participating! With the holiday's upon us and my penchant for anything healthy living I signed right up. Part of the program is to participate in a few activities including phone sessions with a health coach. I knew it would be slightly awkward but I gave it a go on Friday.

My health coach's name is Ellen and her main question was whether or not I had any health goals. I shared that it wasn't so much as a goal but more of a question about how to insure a healthy Vegan lifestyle. In my recent research on Veganism (gluten free) I've found discrepancies about how & what I really need to intake to stay safe and healthy.

Ellen, funny enough was gluten-free so I knew we were on the right track. She shared the following:

Protein:
-At my weight she shared that I needed 40-50 grams of protein a day. Sounds like a lot.
-1/2 cup of the following items can equal to about 7 grams: Nuts, Almond/Soy Milks, Tofu, Beans

Vitamins:
-I need B vitamins. She thought that my daily vitamin and healthy eating should cover me but an extra B vitamin couldn't hurt. She said it's water soluble so if my body doesn't need it I'll just flush it out. I was surprised to hear that my almond milks and even cereal (even Chex) are fortified with extra vitamins like A, B, C & D.
-Eat colors! I'm already all over that per my previous posts. As along as I eat red (peppers), green (leafy greens, brussel sprouts, asparagus), orange (sweet potato), yellow (squash), blue (potato, blueberry) etc. that I'm fairly covered health wise. My favorite food roasted sweet potato has a ton of A & C vitamins.
-Iron, commonly found in animal meat can easily be replaced with kale and spinach. She said that our bodies naturally absorb Iron easier from animals because our bodies are more similar to animals than plants. She shared that the waxiness on the outside of kale & spinach can be harder to break down. She said a very quick saute or blanch of the veggie can break down that wax to help better absorb the vitamin. With that said, you shouldn't over cook to eliminate all the vitamins you are trying to absorb.

Overall I was very pleased with the session. I have 3 more sessions that I can use over the course of the next year. My first was very impromptu and I wasn't very prepared since I didn't know what to expect. Now that I know I have a Dietitian at my disposal for free I am going to line up my questions!

Last note, she said if at any time I'm curious about my health status, my Dr. can do a blood panel to test my levels. I am definitely going to ask for that at my next yearly physical next month.

24

Anything can happen in 24 hours. Relevant to this blog, I had 24 hours that included a complete breakdown of my Vegan diet. Whenever you are trying something new there is bound to be a breakdown. I'm not going to beat myself up for it...how my body felt afterwards has done all the beating up I've needed.

I had a very pinnacle moment 4 years ago when 6 weeks into a new regime I had a breakdown. Then it was pasta and therefore having the epiphany after 28 years of stomach torture that I needed to be gluten free. This time, it was that my body does not need or want "animal."

To break it down, last weekend was crazy. I had friends in town for 3 days who were supposed to be in town for the marathon, but with an injury made their trip into 3 days of fun. My parents came into the city for a night in between back to back days of concerts. On top of all that, I was invited to celebrate my friends Jancy & Ben's engagement. With each I cheated. Things happens when you have been cocktailing and eating out for 3 days straight:

-Engagement party @ Mon ami Gabi: Shrimp cocktail & a mini pot of creme brûlée
-Brunch w/ Parents @ Southport Grocery: Gluten free Cupcake pancakes
-Dinner w/ friends @ Homeslice: Gluten free pizza

Now I did make it through without eating any red or white meat, but I still killed my stomach in the process. I felt so terrible Monday morning I thought about skipping work. On top of it I had caught a cold. My immune system was shot.

I vowed that morning that I would do everything in my "will" power to never eat animal ever again.

So far so good:

-Fell more in love with Amy's (specifically the Vegan Dal Soup). I've had her gluten free vegan pizza before which is pretty darn good.
-Tried a new Protein bar bowl. The Vegan Black bean quinoa bowl w/ tofu & spinach (added).
-Hilary's Veggie Burgers
-More Bob's Red Mill Oatmeal w/ berries & agave
-My favorite breakfast bar MacroBars
-Nature's path cinnamon raison bread w/ Justin's almond butter


Off to Whole Foods tonight. Craving roasted vegetables.

A Vegan Sanctuary

Sometimes you just need a down weekend. I'm currently approaching a fairly busy weekend with friends coming in town and had decided to head to suburbia last weekend. My family has always been very progressive with food and with my Dad being a current pescatarian I knew that I would find plenty to eat. Little did I know that it would be a gluten free vegan extravaganza.

For dinner Saturday, we had tacos. Ok, we have the most ridiculous tacos. I think they could have been the best tasting taco I've ever had. I know that sounds crazy with a clear exclusion of all animal goodness: cheese, sour cream, beef/chicken. I didn't miss any of it. How is this possible? This is how:

El Milagro Corn Tortillas
Sauteed Corn & Jalapeño
Sauteed Peppers & Red Onion
Standard Market Guacamole
Trader Joe's Black Bean Dip
Trader Joe's Verde Salsa
Fresh Cilantro




I ate 3 fully stuffed tacos.


Sunday I started the day with my Dad's special home-made granola. Then more tacos for lunch. And then once again a killer dinner. This time Mom made pasta (bionature gluten-free) with fresh farm stand tomato sauce with basil, garlic, Olive oil & vinegar. In addition to the pasta we had farm stand salad with roasted pine nuts and basic vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard). My Dad also
provided a great Pinot. Love.

The Mackey household. A vegan sanctuary. The only animal necessary was Dolls.

Vegan without the MOFO

Sadly Vegan month of food (#veganmofo) is over and it's time for me to stand on my own two vegan feet.

I'm hungry.

I may or may not have mentioned on my blog yet that I bought Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet.  Until last night I had only flipped through the recipes for food inspiration but found I was selling the book short. It is critical to read the opening remarks. Like the title, it truly is about not only being kind to animals & the environment, it's about being kind to your own body.

I read a billboard on the highway recently that said 1 in 3 kids born today will live till over a 100. What if I live until I'm 90? Now my family history has not set me up to have that be my reality but what if it is!?! I need a strong heart.  I need to combat cancer. I need glowing skin. I need to manage my weight. I need strong bones. I need, I need, I need...

My head is spinning. I'm not training for a marathon. I'm not sick. I only have my own motivation. I need to learn to cook vegan dishes so that I'm not hungry. Plain roasted & raw veggies are not going to do it. I have work to do.

"So what exactly do you eat?"

If you are looking to win a popularity contest, being a gluten-free vegan is not for you. People look at you weird, sneer, laugh and roll their eyes. I even had someone say last night that I was that annoying person that servers hate. I totally get it.  I don't blame them. Maybe I am just doing it to be unique. I have so many different answers to why: optimal health (cancer/heart plaque fighting machine), lose weight, generally feel better, for #veganmofo, for shits and giggles...but not exactly for the animals as most Vegans. I love animals. I have a dog that I adore. I think kittens and bunnies are cute, however I have always been able to compartmentalize the treatment of animals and its affect on the environment to the tasty slab of meat on my plate. I used to advertise for the National Cattleman's Beef Association and have seen my fair share of slaughter houses without being fazed (except for maybe the part at the end of the line w/ the gun). I wish I could come up with a really good reason for this silly adventure but it just is what it is.

Leading to the title of this post, what exactly do I eat?...well here goes (by default everything listed is gluten-free):

Breakfast:

Homemade Oatmeal/Fruit Bars
Oatmeal/Fruit
Smoothies
Granola/Almond yogurt
Rice/Corn Flake/Granola Cereal combo w/ Almond Milk
Larabar
MacroBar






Lunch:

Salad (Lettuce, cucumber, oil/vinegar)
Nature's Path Vegan Bread w/ Almond Butter

Fruit: grapes, pears, apples










Dinner:

Roasted Veggies (Peppers, Eggplant, Squash)
Brown Rice (seasoned w/ Tamari)
Roasted Red/Sweet Potatoes
Hilary's Veggie Burger







Dessert:
Almond Milk Ice Cream
Dark Chocolate

Drink:
Wine, wine, wine

Restaurants:

Chicago Diner
Bombay Spice
Native Foods
Protein Bar
Urban Vegan
Rose's Bakery







RE my last post, I've balanced my food quantity intake. With workouts 6 days a week and a reduction of my drinking to 2-3 days a week I'm feeling pretty darn good. Hunger has subsided.

V Week 3

This week marks the third week that I have given up all animal products. Turns out that it's not that hard. I don't miss meat or crave it. The only time that I have faltered (twice) is that I literally would have skipped a meal if I didn't eat meat. I attended a fashion & food event with a friend and a work lunch that would have proved too difficult to satisfy my hunger without ordering a dish with fish.

A major lesson that I have learned in the past few weeks is how much better your body feels when you control your own food. Now as a gluten-free person this is typically my reality, but with truly embracing my new Veganism I had decided to eat out a few too many times. In the middle of my Vegan journey I felt terrible. I struggle with managing portion control when things are tasty.

Overall when you eat too much, it doesn't matter what it is, it will make you feel like crap. Classic lesson of slow down when you are eating and listen to your body. If only restaurant served 100% vegan friendly food at the exact right portion. A girl can dream.

Last side note. After reading "My Beef with Meat," I'm not sure I can ever truly consider an animal based diet every again. More to come on that.

Bird vs Bird Seed

If you are a current reader of my blog, you know that I've been on a food journey for quite some time. I'll try just about anything to feel as healthy as possible while still maintaining an entertaining and delicious experience.

In be past 2 months I've been dabbling in all things above and beyond just "gluten-free." Now, being gluten-free is nothing to balk at but at this point it's easy for me. The more you know how to be gluten-free, the more ways you know how to cheat being healthy (chips, snickers bars, candy in general...). It was time to up the anty.

I started with giving up cow dairy. That means no milk, no cow cheese (goat cheese still in the game), no ice cream, etc. I found it pretty easy as there are so many almond milk and coconut alternatives that are either just as tasty or better.

That gets me to the past two weeks. I have entered into a realm that I swore up and down I would never do as a gluten-free devotee. I went gluten-free vegan. Madness.

As a fairly savvy social media 30 something, I have become addicted to Instagram. Often I would post the gluten free food or restaurants that I have been to and tagged them with the proper monikers. And in return I would get likes or followers that are also interested in gluten-free living. One day as I was tooling around the "discovery" page I started seeing a new hashtag #veganmofo. 

Other than its apparent inappropriateness of the name, it seemed like a movement of some sort. And in fact it was. September is "Vegan month of food." There are people all over the world (literally) snapping pics and blogging about Veganism. And as I kept digging I realized there are thousands of people posting recipes daily. I was completely consumed by all the content and pretty pictures. I was in. Like all in. I've already made 3 plus recipes, have visited 5 vegan restaurants and posted 5 plus pics.

Now getting to the title of this post. In the midst of week 1 of Veganism, my cubemate/work partner in crime started a new diet as well. She is trying to reach the pure state of ketosis by giving up sugar 100%. As a recovering candy/sugar addict I see that as impossible. I'd liken the diet to the Atkins diet. She eats meat/salad/eggs/bacon/cheese. Pretty much the exact opposite of my diet.

Within our almost 2 weeks I have gained weight and she has lost weight. But this isn't about weight. This is about reaching optimal heath. I fear she is building up plaque in her arteries and she feels I'm consuming foods that are turing all to sugar (and then in turn fat). I feel like I'm a cancer fighting machine!

The diet wars begin. Stay tuned for updates in our challenge.

PB&J Smoothie

I have to start this food post by saying that this recipe is a complete rip of Protein Bar's "Pier-nut Butter & Jelly" smoothie...I hope they don't mind!

I don't normally crave smoothies during the work day however I was meeting a colleague for a quick meeting and rather than grab coffee on a hot day, a smoothie felt like a better option to get outside and enjoy the nice weather.

I ordered this smoothie and it was instant love. I can't even remember what I said in the meeting. I fell so in love that I had to recreate for home when I normally crave a smoothie post weekend lakefront run.

PBJ Smoothie

Dairy/Gluten free 

3/4 Cup Frozen Blueberries

1/4 Cup Frozen Strawberries

1/3 Banana

1 Scoop Vanilla Soy Protein

1 Cup Almond Milk

1 Large Spoonful Almond Butter

2-3 Ice Cubes

Throw it all into a blender and blend for at least a minute. Add a few tablespoons of water if your smoothie is too thick.

Yum.

Another Week Another Salad

As I mentioned in previous posts, I like to start off each work with the best of intentions. I get in a workout, I detox from alcohol and I have some kind of meat/vegetable combo for dinner.

Nothing unusual about this particular salad that I was prepping until I sat down to eat. This salad just looked pretty. In addition, the chicken was perfectly moist & seasoned and the salad leaves unique.

I introduce you to the Mache salad w/ BBQ smoked chicken, roasted red pepper & a Dijon balsamic vinaigrette.

Rise and Shine it's Florida Time

The title of this post is compliments of Ingrid Mackey...my Mom and fellow beach lover. My parents bought a timeshare in Marco Island, FL in the mid-80's and it became our regular vacation spot growing up. It's on the Gulf side in SW Florida in close proximity to Clear Water, Naples and Ft. Myers. As an adult I've had the luck of rekindling memories, most recently as an impromptu extended Mother's Day weekend.

As with any trip, even this sun soaked filled trip, it's all about the food food food. Now Marco is not notoriously know for its culinary adventures but they have seriously stepped up their game in the past few years.

Here are a few highlights:

Quinn's on the Beach 

Oh the sweet sweet Pina Colada. For me it is vacation in a cup. It's a requirement for any vacation. Per tradition, the 1st day Mom and I arrived in Marco, I dragged her over to the Marriott next door to grab a quick bite and a cocktail. Not only was the Pina Colada delicous, we were quite pleased with the ceviche and the arugula, watermelon, feta & shrimp salad. It was really the perfect start.

Starbucks! Ok I know this is not exciting, but when you are in a coffee dead zone, Starbucks is an oasis for a quick cup and Kind bar.

CJ's on the Bay 

Located in the new condo complex along Collier you'll find Starbucks and CJ's on the Bay. CJ's is a fish restaurant nestled along the boats. CJ's is by no means fine dining, but does provide a great outside patio, friendly waitstaff and fresh fish. Overall didn't blow our minds but was a great casual dinner.

Sal e Pepe 
Wow! Where do I start. This may be one of the best meals I've had all year. Located directly next to our condo building is a new hotel called Marco Beach (constructed in the past couple years). This Italian restaurant had it all. Beautiful patio with an ocean view, bold Super Tuscans by the glass, unique grilled squid, tender scallops with a beautiful mushroom sauce and for Mom a cavatelli (some type of fish ragu) that she is still salivating over.

Korals 

Sushi Takeout? Yup. Sometimes you just need a light take-out dinner while on vacation. The Marriott once again fit the bill for a quick good meal. The sushi menu was fairly extensive, the waitstaff was friendly & quick and the food itself was decent. A great option for a light dinner at the bar or take-out. And can't beat the location.

Baleen 
Mom and I took a quick overnight trip on our last night to Naples to go to a restaurant recommended by a friend. Located in a super cute almost Southern style hotel La Playa sits Baleen. Baleen I'd say is a New American/fish restaurant that has a great patio overlooking the grounds, beach and water. We had a lovely table with a friendly waitress. I can't say the food was as good as Sal e Pepe but definitely exceeded our expectations for SW FL. Mom ordered the Mother's Day prefix w/ a delish & unique gazpacho, a fish dish and finished with a creme brulee (the waitress was nice enough to subsitute for gluten free so that I could join in diving in). I had a ceviche that was fresh but a little tart and once again shocker the scallops which were perfectly cooked. This would be a great location for drinks before going out. Very relaxing with great views.


Happy Mother's Day Mom! What a great trip.

RPM Italian

For some time, I've been wanting to try out RPM Italian. Not necessarily because of the food rave reviews, but because being the pop culture junkie I am....it is Guiliana & Bill Rancic's new digs (and every celebrity to come through Chicago has made a stop).

Last week I made a reservation figuring I would find something gluten-free and edible on the menu, but was pleasantly surprised they had an entire gluten-free menu. A big one at that. I could have a flurry of appetizers, pastas, meats, fished, sides etc. 

Since I was with my alternative eating partner in crime, my Dad, I convinced him to go gluten-free and pescatarian for the meal so that we could share everything (he being the non-meat eater).

We decided on 4 dishes:

-A mushroom risotto

-Homemade g-free pappardelle w/ an Italian cheese, pepper  and ramps sauce

-Salmon w/ a pesto sauce

-Grilled prawns

What can I say, we absolutely dove in and couldn't stop eating. The risotto was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The mushrooms were so flavorful and plump. The pappardelle was so delicate and light you couldn't believe it could be any better (meaning non-gluten free). The Salmon was light, but could have used a touch more pesto sauce (but I fared perfectly fine by pairing the bites w/ the pasta or risotto). And lastly, the grilled prawns were good sized, flavorful and meaty.

A Mackey being a Mackey, we both ordered dessert: gelato (for Dad) and sorbet (for me). As you can tell by the photo it was a mountain of chocolate sorbet that I only successfully made it through half....and let me tell you it was so smooth is tasted like ice cream (and don't you just love that long spoon?).

Well done RPM, greatly exceeded my expectations for a "Celebrity" restaurant.

Food or Fuel

Today was a day that at times...I had two distinctly different needs for food.

Mid day, after running various errands, I needed fuel. I needed meat specifically. My meal did not have to be heavy, it just had to be protein rich, quick and sustainable. And what I mean by sustainable is that I wanted to abstain from hunger for 5 hours. I had plans to hit the dog park and had work to do. I decided on chicken salad from Whole Foods. No bread, obviously. I chose the curried salad filled with delicious Indian spices, big chunks of chicken, slivers of almonds and tiny raisins.

Later, for dinner, I needed food for the soul. When I was also at WF I also picked up one of my favorite frozen pizzas (Against the Grain). I chose the version with a pesto sauce as I'm trying to reduce my acidic intake. I needed a carb loaded rich flaky indulgence. I needed something to trigger all the senses. I mean it was Saturday. This day of all days is the time to do so. The weekend begs for indulgent foods that you can enjoy and lust after the rest of the week to get you excited for the next.

Your body tells you what it wants. Listen to it. Not your brain, it can lead you astray. It's not about what you should have, it's about what your body needs.

Prasino~ Brunch

I'm not sure what came first, Sex and the City or the weekend ladies brunch craze...but it has become a staple.

At least a few times a month I get together with girlfriends for gossip, mimosas and brunch, emphasis on the mimosa. (My friend Nicky post brunch pictured below)

Chicago is an amazing brunch town. There are endless options in each neighborhood. Although I've spent most of my time in Lincoln Park, I've tried to branch out to other areas of time to seek out new options.

I've found myself at the same brunch place twice in the past couple months due to some key elements...

Prasino offers:
-Fairly easy neighborhood parking
-Delicious classic mimosas and bellinis
-A gluten free marked menu (and vegetarian). And all the food is amazingly delicious and a ton of gluten free options including pancakes.
-The ability to make a reservation! This is killer as most places the hostess will greet you with an hour and a half wait list.

You'll find it on Division in Wicker Park or La Grange if suburbia is more your scene.

Debunking Paleo @ Ted

While trolling through Twitter, I found this great link to a Ted video where an Archaeologist (Christina Warinner) debunked the Paleo Diet. I've been intrigued by this diet as I have friends who have tried it and lost weight....and it seemed healthy. The net of the story is that it would be impossible to eat a Paleo diet with how the foods have evolved over centuries. There is no way for me to explain the details that she does so well, so enjoy the video:

Most anyone can debunk any fad diet, but the key point is to have reminders of good habits to move forward with:

1) Diversity~to absorb the best mix of vitamins. Most grocery shelf items contain the same three: Wheat, corn & soy.
2) Fresh Seasonal Foods~ Avoid preservatives. There is such a thing as good bacteria which keeps your gut healthy. Seeds & nuts are great sustainable foods to help you later in the week after your veggies may have spoiled.
3) Whole Foods~ Fiber & roughage is what processes the foods in your system and speeds up/maintains your metabolism.

Multi-colored vs Multi-colored

Of late I have seen so many articles about Celiac folks pissed about the movement for regular "non-gluten" allergic people choosing to be gluten free to lose weight. In the past week I've even been sent two e-cards that were crude but hysterical.

I try not to take my allergy too seriously and try to be as positive as possible. I mean, as much as I want a donut, I'm not going to cry about it.

Today was Easter Sunday. My Mom has mastered the art of not only gluten free family meals but on top of it has had to take on my Dad's vegetarianism. Poor gal.

As my Mom was prepping the food I took a look at the counter and realized we had multi-colored veggies and multi-colored jelly belly's. Both delicious & gluten free in their own right but only one good for you.

Alas today was a holiday, there was room in my belly for both. Food allergies are not so tough. Have fun with it.

#Fail

I have to start this post by saying this is my fourth attempt. I've had the concept for weeks. I've even tried to write this multiple times. There is always something: lack of time, inspiration...and even failure of saving correctly.

So lets get to the point, I fail. Trying to be gluten free (and mostly dairy free) is hard!

When living on a strict diet, you find not only your stomach hungry, but your soul. Each meal is so critical for your physical and mental survival.

I know that sounds dramatic, but trust this is real.

In the past couple weeks, I had 2 epic fails. One meal was a frozen gluten free pot pie. The other a gluten free dairy fee pizza from Naked pizza. Each thought to be special in their own right.

The pot pie was bought by my mother and meant to be comfort on a chilly late winter night.

The other an attempt at trickery of a Friday indulgence.

The pot pie was grainy and in edible. The pizza soupy and also inedible.

Both epic failures that you just have to laugh, move on and try again. The journey is not over until I have a continuous series of #success.

Work Day Breakfast Prep

Ok, I know I've posted about Bob's Red Mill a few times before, but feel compelled to post yet another. Per a post from a few weeks ago I really am trying to be gluten and dairy free and feel I have mastered week day morning hunger. Of course until I'm on to the next thing.

The key for this recipe is that you have to make it ahead of time in a batch over the weekend.

Steel Cut Oats
Boil 3 cups of water in a wide & deep sauté bowl on high.
Add in 1 cup of Gluten Free steel cup oats and stir.
Lower heat to Low and stir every 5 minutes for 20 minutes or until all the water has evaporated.
Let sit and cool.
Scoop oats into 3 Plastic containers.
Swirl on agave syrup on each.
Add in 4-6 frozen berries.
Cover and place in fridge.
Bring into work, add in 2 tbsp of water and zap for 45 seconds. Stir then zap for another 45. Let cool a bit and it's ready.

So good and will keep you full all morning.

Monday Health Day

Every week I try to start off on a healthy foot. When trying to eat something pure and good for you, you have to spice it up or you'll get boredom hunger.

Today I tried out a boneless spice rubbed pork chop and sautéed kale.

Preheat oven: 450

In a bowl I mixed a small amount of dried garlic powder, cumin, coriander, oregano and salt. Mixed and then rubbed onto the meat.

In a hot sauté pan I put a small amount of olive oil. I sautéed a good sear on both sides then placed in the oven for 10 minutes.

While that was cooking I washed and deveined the kale, chopped and sautéed with a bit of olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper.

It was great. And I did end with a few m&ms. Always need a sweet treat to end a meal.

New Evolution. Gluten-free + Dairy Free (80%)

Turns out that the body is somewhat like that of a car. Each one unique and with its imperfections. Like a mechanic, you have to continually tinker with it to make it run smooth.

About 4 years ago, I self diagnosed myself with a gluten-allergy. I immediately felt great. What I realized soon afterwards was that I was so far on the spectrum that any change felt great. What I didn't realize until the past 3 months is that that was only the first step in a long journey of understanding who I am completely.

Prior to Thanksgiving I visited a doctor. I was freaked out that I had gained 10+ pounds and felt terrible. She gave me a series of blood work and found nothing but in the meantime gave me clarity. Once again, I knew I had to experiment with my foods and figure out just what is going to make this engine run.

When you enter any grocery store there are so many options you can't even begin to understand what the right decisions are. Veggies? Sure but too many make my belly turn. Carbs? Maybe if they are gluten free. Dairy? I'm not so sure about that, lots of sugar and I seem to wain in pain. Frozen foods? Wait don't they have a lot of chemicals? Fruit? Way too much acid. Meat? Safe so far...Whole Foods labels their seasonings.

Fast forward 3 months later and 12+ pounds lighter...I've come to the short list. A very short list of groceries to test from Whole Foods (the safest place for the Gluten intolerant). Each week testing a small set of ingredients to see how I'll fair.

So far the danger zone includes...Gluten (of course), salad in excess, dried fruit in excess, dairy (goat milk is still in question), eating in between meals, carbs at night...every time I eat it's a potential dagger to the stomach.

More to come on this. Trying out a Gluten-free Vegetarian meal tomorrow.

V