vegan crack sweet potatoes

Good morning!

Today I want to share with you a recipe that I am obsessed with.  I liked this recipe before the Whole30 and I like it even better now.  Vegan.  Crack.  Sweet.  Potatoes.  YUM.  Okay, so this recipe is super versatile and you can change up the ratios however you want.  If you like spicy food....make those red pepper flakes rain on your sweet potatoes.  Not so into spicy?  Ease up.  Love garlic?  Pile that shit on!  You catch my drift??  One of the things that I have enjoyed about cooking recently is that I have learned to adapt recipes to either what I have on hand or to my individual preference.  I always say that you should follow the recipe the first time, but after that....start making changes and make it however you like it.

So these sweet potatoes.  I have started to buy a ton of sweet potatoes every week and make about 4 cups of these babies to use throughout the week.  They work as part of a breakfast hash, on salads, as a side...you can eat them at all times of the day.

The other great thing about this recipe?  It's simple.  Simple foods are the best foods and you know exactly what is going into them.  You can (hopefully) pronounce all of the ingredients and they all add great flavor.  No fillers, no preservatives.  Good.  Whole.  Food.

Okay, so anyway.  Without further ado...here's the recipe!

Ingredients
1 sweet potato, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp minced garlic (I use the pre-minced stuff in a jar)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to  400F.  In a bowl, mix all ingredients. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with olive oil spray. (I actually like to use a 9" x 13" glass Pyrex baking dish lined with foil, but metal cookie sheets work too.)  Evenly distribute potatoes on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir.  Bake for another 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Voila!  Done.

As you get more and more comfortable with this recipe, you will probably opt to save dishes and prepare it the way I do:  Line baking dish.  Dump in potatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle seasoning in until it "looks right".  Super easy.  Also, notice that this recipe is for 1 potato.  You can always double, triple, or quadruple the recipe, as needed.  I think I have been able to get up to 3 sweet potatoes in a 9" x 13" glass dish.

to your health,

anne

baby bean burgers

Happy summer from Minnesota!!!  It's such a beautiful day here, so you know what that makes me think of??  Cheeseburgers. (Obviously.)

So shout out to all of my cheeseburger-loving vegetarians out there!  Heeeeeyyyyyy!  But seriously, before I decided to take the veg route in life, I loved me a good cheeseburger!  And cheeseburgers off the grill in the summer?!  Divine.  That was probably one of the hardest adjustments for me to make.  At first, I thought the sound of bean burgers was nasty.  It just sounded totally unappealing to eat a mashed up pile of beans.  Gross.

Obviously my views have changed slightly, and this recipe is one of the contributing reasons for why!  By the time I warmed up to the idea of bean burgers, I was much more aware of the crazy crap that came with the premade, frozen veggie and bean burgers and it freaked me out.  So off I went on Pinterest, trying to find some kind of veggie/bean burger that was moderately appealing to me.  I found this recipe for a Spinach and Feta Double Bean Burger.  I made it and actually really liked it!  I’ve made it a few times since, but I have noticed that I had a tendency for changing the recipe.  So today when I decided to make them, I had the idea of making little baby burgers.  I know most people call them “sliders”, but “baby bean burgers” is so much more fun to say!  That alliteration, though!  I crack myself up.

Anyway!  The recipe!

Ingredients

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can white beans, drained & rinsed (I use cannellini)

½ red pepper, diced (about ¼ inch)

¼ cup chopped onion (I’ve used every color and it’s been fine, but the original recipe calls for white)

2 cups spinach or kale, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons cooking oil/ghee/coconut oil

½ cup feta cheese

1 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

2/3 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat ones)

2 eggs

Begin by heating about 2 tsp oil in a sauté pan on medium heat.  Sauté peppers and onions for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften.  Add spinach or kale and garlic and sauté another 3-4 minutes, until wilted.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.  In a large bowl, mash all but 1/3 cup of the beans.  Once mashed, add the remaining beans, breadcrumbs, feta cheese, cooled veggie mixture, eggs, and steak seasoning.  Mix everything together until it looks pretty uniform and shape into 10-12 patties. (Now would be a good time to preheat your oven to 375F).  Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a pan to medium.  Gently place each patty into the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until there is a nice, golden crust on the top and bottom.  Kind of like searing for meat..except with bean burgers instead. :]. After "searing" all of your burgers, place them on a pre-sprayed baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes and flip if needed.  Remove from oven and serve!  Personally, I love to top them with white cheddar cheese and sliced tomatoes, but you can top them however you want!  Hummus sounds like a good idea actually....om nom nom!

I have not yet tried these on the grill, so if you try them that way, let me know how it works!

to your health!

anne

my big vegetarian whole30

Welcome to my big vegetarian Whole30 experience!  First, let me preface this post by saying that I was bad and did not research enough before I started the Whole30.  I was familiar with the concept, but as a vegetarian, it seemed much more challenging when I realized that I was unable to eat any grains or beans along with already excluding meat.  BUT,  I will say that it was easier than I thought it would be.  I wanted to put together some of the tips and tricks that I used in case you are vegetarian and wanting to do the Whole30, but are intimidated by the restrictions.

First off, if you are considering trying the Whole30….DO IT!  Seriously!  It changes how you think about the food that you eat on a daily basis.  I usually eat pretty healthy, but I definitely have a tendency to binge on chocolate and "healthy" snacks.  There are so many "healthy" foods that really aren't that good for you.  I have done 28 day sugar cleanses in the past, but it really didn't even stack up to how differently I felt during the Whole30.

Here are some of the changes that I experienced during the Whole30:

-Energy:  My baseline energy levels increased and they remained more stable throughout the day.

-I completely quit coffee:  I didn't need it!

-Sleep:  I slept more soundly and awoke feeling more rested.  It was also much easier to get up in the morning right away, even after short nights of only 5-6 hours of sleep.

-Mood:  I felt happier & more emotionally stable as the weeks rolled on.  Small things didn't bother me as much as they used to and I had a more positive outlook.

-Food view:   I began to view food differently and was able to see past emotional cravings and view foods for their nutrient density instead.  I began to assess which foods would give me the most nutrients or a different mix of nutrients throughout the day.

-Weight loss:  I lost about 8 pounds, although that was not my goal with this program.

So what was it like?  How did I prepare for and survive the Whole30?

research

Okay, this is important.  Do lots of research before you begin.  There are quite a few ins and outs, especially when trying to figure out what is approved for vegetarians.  For example, did you know that all grains and beans are out?  This includes gluten free healthy grains like quinoa and other legumes like peanuts.  How rude!  And cheese.  Again.  Rude.  Take the time the week or so before you start to research and to find recipes that are compliant that you will like to try.

planning

I would highly highly highly recommend meal prepping.  Seriously, do it.  Save your Sundays for this process because I guarantee, it will make the week ahead a MILLION GAZILLION times easier.  Meal prepping takes out the indecision that can arise throughout the week.  It gives you a clear, obvious answer for what you need to eat that day.  I don't know about you, but I always eat worse when I don't bring a lunch because then I have to scramble to find something healthy and quick.

On a similar note, pack your food the night before for work.  Again, it helps to keep you on track and it saves you time in the morning.  AKA, you can't be "forced" to buy an unhealthy lunch because you didn't have time to pack yours.

cost

There is this idea out there that eating healthy has to be expensive.  It doesn't.  It soooo doesn't.  You just have to be smart about it.  First, familiarize yourself with the local grocery ads.  Foods are different prices at different stores.  In the Twin Cities, we have a grocery store called Fresh Thyme that has awesome sales on produce each week.  Most cities will have something similar.  Fresh Thyme is spread out across the country and I know Aldi usually has good deals on produce.  Stick with your local ads, shop at multiple stores if you need to (you might not be able to get everything for the lowest price at one store), and buy seasonal produce.  This means that the produce is at it's peak freshness and abundance, so it should be less expensive than during other parts of the year.  I also try to make sure that I capitalize on bulk sales.  For example, when almonds were on sale for $5.99/lb., I bought a bunch in bulk so it would last me a few weeks.  I do the same when pistachios are on sale because helloooooo, pistachios are delicious.

Finally, cost is not just about how much you pay when you buy something.  Do you make it worth it once you have it?  I used to be awful at doing a healthy food grocery run overhaul and then it would sit in the fridge and I would do nothing with it.  Now I take a look at the ads, pick what I want to buy, and then find recipes that fit those ingredients.  I try to be super efficient with this.  If I do mess up and have to throw something away, I always question why I bought that item in the first place.  When you're shopping, ask yourself:  will I actually use this?  Only buy it if you will use it in a timely manner and not throw it away.

The most expensive part for me was doing a 2 day juice cleanse for the first two days.  Although it was more expensive, I think it was well worth it and it made adapting to the rest of the month much easier.

my tips & tricks:

Sweet potatoes are your friend.  I ate a literal shitload of sweet potatoes.  Since that was pretty much my only source of high volume carbs, I didn't mind eating them every day.  I mixed in a few other varieties of potatoes, but sweet potatoes are the bomb. dot. com.  I'll post the recipe that I used.  :]

Eggs are also a good friend, although I tried to keep it at 1 per day.  Some days I succeeded, others I did not.  And I have no shame in that.

Mix. It.  Up.  It can be easy to find a few things that you like and to just eat those for 30 days.  And by day 30 you will be bored and chomping at the bit to try anything else.  Try different seasonings.  Try different preparations of foods--hello, zoodles?!?!  Try different foods that you haven't tried before!  It’s one thing to have go-to's, but still aim for diversity.  Not only does it keep things interesting, but it guarantees that your are consuming a variety of different nutrients!

Water.  Drink lots of it.  I was amazed at the end by how much water I was drinking.  I always have a 24 ounce Starbucks cup with me.  When I started the Whole30, I was drinking about 2-3 of these cups every day.  Now I am drinking 4-5 every day.  It actually helps me wake up, too.  I didn’t have coffee until the last week or so and it has been super minimal because I definitely don't want to become dependent on it.

my cheats

Okay, so I'm the first one to admit that I am not perfect.  Not even close.  (Shocking, I know). There are a few products that helped me to survive:

Simple Mills Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Almond Flour Crackers

RX Bars (Blueberry and Apple Cinnamon)

Larabars

Jackson's Honest Sweet Potato Chips

social impact

Okay, so the social impact of the Whole30 can be intimidating.  I rarely ate out on the Whole30 and it was a challenge to explain to friends and coworkers the reasons behind my decision.  It never feels good to have people shame you for a health decision that you are making for yourself.  That being said, it was much easier to stick to once I felt the changes start to take place.  I had evidence that what I was doing was having an impact, which made it much easier to stick to my guns.  Before you start or have to explain to your friends, ask yourself why you want to do this.  Find your why.  It's not the same for everybody and that's okay.  Once you figure out your why, be prepared for a range of responses.  Some people will be in awe and ask how you are doing it and may even jump on board to do it with you.  That's great!  Others will think you are a nut in a box of Cracker Jacks and will dismiss your efforts.  Some might even try to make you feel stupid for trying it.  Don't let those haters get you down.  I know it can be hard.  I've been there.  Remember:  if you are doing the Whole30, you are doing it for you.  Nobody else.

Going out to dinner is a tough one, too because there is such a limited selection of Whole30-friendly foods at restaurants.  If you are comfortable with it, be that person who goes out with friends and inquires about the oils that foods are cooked in, how foods are prepared, and for substitutions to meet your needs.  I think it's funny that one of the common critiques of the Whole30 is that you turn into "that person".  Whatever.  Again, remember that this is for you.  If you are comfortable with it, then go out for dinner and ask the extra questions.  I didn't go out much, but that doesn't mean that you can't.

Here's my advice though:

1. Be honest.  Explain your why to your friends.  Be prepared for a variety of responses.  Just remember, you don't need to justify or argue your decision to anybody but yourself.  This. Is. About. You.
2. If you are feeling really ambitious and don't want to lose the social aspect to food, invite your friends for a dinner party.  Make foods that work for you and for them.  Boom.  Compromise reached.
3. Be prepared.  There were times that I packed my own food for visits to non-Whole30 friendly places or went grocery shopping for myself when I went to visit my sister.  Having my own stash of food made it much easier to stick with it.

Okay, I know this was a lot to take in, but I hope it was helpful.  My next blog project is going to be putting together some of the recipes that I used throughout the Whole30, including some of the juices!  If you have any questions at all about the Whole30 or what I did, please reach out to me in the comments or directly and I can answer them for you!

to your health,

anne

***Correction:  A few weeks after posting this, I was researching the Whole30 again and found that there is a vegetarian FAQ page.  They allow you to include gluten free grains and some legumes, although peanuts are still excluded.  You can check it out here.

real. raw. genuine.

Happy Monday!!!

This is going to be a very vulnerable post for me.  I want to talk about you.  But I also want to talk about me.  I think that you and I are probably on similar journeys.  I have been doing a lot of soul searching recently and found some things that I want to work through.  With all of the study that I have done on mindset in the last year or so, I find it absolutely amazing how difficult it still is for me to incorporate some of the practices into my life.  And the really crazy thing is that when I do incorporate them, I feel a million times better.  I feel amazing.  I feel like I can conquer the world.  It’s insane!  So why do I still have such a hard time maintaining these practices long term?  And it isn’t even just with my mindfulness practices.  I find myself doing this with my diet and workouts too.  I constantly limit myself with my mindset.  I know that I feel better when I work out consistently.  I know that I feel like a million bucks when I am eating whole, plant-based foods.  I know that it’s better for my health to engage in these practices.  So why in the hell do I self-sabotage my health and wellness by not maintain these practices in my everyday life.  Now this is where you come in.  I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not the only person who goes through this cycle.  Am I right?  Is this you too??  I thought so.

One of my goals with this blog is to share my journey and to help others who might be struggling with the same things.  Everyone knows that social media is just an individual highlight reel.  I used to get so scared to post anything that didn’t indicate that I am fit as a fiddle and loving my #fitlife.  Hell, I still get really scared to post anything like that.  If you notice when I go on hiatuses from posting….it’s usually because I’m afraid to put out anything but #positivevibes.  I am so afraid of being a failure that I just won’t share anything.  It reminds me of how our moms used to always say, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”  For me, this translated to, “if you can’t post something positive, don’t post anything at all.”  All of this fear and negativity is a super big part of my limiting beliefs and it is something that I intend to work through.  Here’s the thing that I realized:  I’m so scared of being imperfect or off my game that my story isn’t translating as my story.  And I truly believe that my experiences can help others if I can get past this stupid limiting belief that I need to be perfect all the time in order to help others.  

I promise that I will share the real aspects of my journey, both good and bad.  Mistakes are such a good way to learn and I have made plenty of them for you to learn from.  I would much rather be the one to make the mistakes if it will benefit somebody else in the long run.  I just hope that my journey is one that your can identify with and that it serves you.

So with that being said, here is my current status:  I haven’t had cheese, chocolate, or coffee in 17 days.  And I surprisingly don’t want to murder someone.  If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is! :]  I have had a lot of ups and downs over the last few months and my self esteem fluctuated with those hills and valleys.  If I wasn’t doing a sugar cleanse or Whole30, I was crazy bingeing on chocolate and crap and telling myself it wasn’t a big deal.  I have transitioned to a sitting job, so I’m not running around a store all day like a crazy woman, which makes a huge difference in how my body uses energy and more importantly, how much energy my body uses.  I’ve started running recreationally, but my training has been really inconsistent.  Honestly, I think my biggest road block is consistency and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if that was your biggest road block too.  Am I right?  I have been consistent over the last 17 days and that is why I feel better now than I have in a looong time.  

I started the Whole30 with a coworker and it was daunting af.  But I know that I have done sugar cleanses before and felt a million times better than before.  I sort of dived into Whole30 without realizing how much else was limited outside of sugar and processed foods.  As a vegetarian, being told that I also needed to purge grains and legumes sucked.  But you know what?  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I honestly feel super clear headed and my energy levels are more consistent.  The only drawback that I have really noticed is that I need to eat more frequently.  I would highly highly recommend trying a Whole30 "cleanse".  It has definitely changed the way that I look at how I eat and why.  It's supposed to help you develop a healthier relationship with food and I think that it definitely has for me!  And I'm not even done with it yet!  :]

Anyway, I wanted to put this out there and tell you guys where I'm at in my journey.  I just really hope that this helps someone realize that they don't have to be and won't be perfect all the time and that's okay!  I'm really excited because I have some ideas of things to share with you all and I think you will like them too!!  More coming soon!

To your health,

Anne

the mind is everything. what you think, you become. -buddha

Happy almost weekend, friends!

There is something that I have been thinking about quite a bit that I want to address.  You see, there is so much focus on what we eat and how we workout and not a whole lot of focus on mindset.  Mindset is huge.  It’s everything really, and for a few different reasons.  You don’t see it talked about a whole lot in relation to health and fitness, so I figured I would take this opportunity to share with you what I have learned both through experience and study about mindset.  Now I hate to do the whole "your body is a temple and you should honor it blah blah blah" dealio, but it's actually very true.  Eating well, exercising, working on mindset will completely change how you feel.  You will feel so much more energetic and alive.  It's kind of amazing, actually.

But first....

Consider this:  You are dreading your workout.  It’s giving you actual anxiety and all you can think about is how much it’s going to hurt and how much it’s going to suck and how dead you will be after.  You suffer through the entire workout and are absolutely miserable.  By the end, you feel exactly how you thought you would.  That doesn't really make you want to go back and do it again, does it?

Another scenario:  You are starting a new clean eating spree and you are on day one.  All you can think about is all of the food that you can’t have.  Chips and candy are dancing through your mind.  You survive day one, but by day two you can’t take it anymore…you have one piece of office candy…then two pieces…then five.  And all of a sudden you find yourself thinking that you already blew the day, so you might as well keep going.

And one more, for good measure:  You hate your body and you want to change it.  You are constantly trying different diets and exercise regimens to try to morph into a skinny, #fitgirl.  Every day you look in the mirror and tally up everything that you want to change.  Your love handles are getting a little out of control.  And your stomach?!  It never did that before!  Why is it suddenly bulging out like that?  You always carried a little more weight in your hips and legs, but this cellulite situation needs to get fixed ASAP—it’s almost summer, after all.  This is your ritual.  Day after day.  Week after week.  Month after month.

Each of these scenarios demonstrates why mindset is crucial.  First, and foremost, what you think about day in and day out is exactly what your life becomes.  If you constantly dread working out, eating nutritiously, or even stepping on the scale, you will likely manifest a negative result.

 

Visualization

I can personally attest to mindset for workouts.  I’ve been on both sides of it during my collegiate years and even in present day.  Let’s just be clear:  running isn’t my thing.  I was a field event athlete in college for a reason.  But recently I decided that I wanted to train for a few races this fall.  I started running a few weeks ago.  Not all runs go well, but the ones that go really well are the ones that I go into thinking about how alive I’m going to feel.  I visualize myself running a steady pace, not easy, but not hard—as relaxed as possible, while still hitting my goal pace.  I visualize myself afterwards feeling tired (I did just exert myself, after all), but strong and accomplished.  Runs that I visualize always turn out better than the ones that I’m afraid of because I don’t want to do them. 

But the real key to visualization: the feeling.  You need to imagine what it will feel like to accomplish whatever it is that you are visualizing.  Olympic athletes are known to use this tactic and it’s not like they are doing too bad in their specialties.  :]  But really, the cool thing about this concept is that you can apply it to more than just a physical task.  You can choose to visualize yourself looking in the mirror and loving what you see, feeling energetic, strong, and content.  If there is a certain number you are after on the scale, or some old pants you want to squeeze into, visualize the event and how you feel when it happens—joy, love, happiness, confidence, sexy…whatever it might be.  You have to feel it.

Thought Choice
We like to think that thoughts just pop into our heads and that we are powerless to control them, but it’s just simply not true.  What we believe is what we become.  So in our example above, where we choose to focus on everything that we dislike about our bodies, it’s no wonder our bodies are resistant to change.  I believe that the mind-body connection is a very real thing.  Instead of focusing on every little imperfection, focus on what you like about your body.  Think about the strong, capable body that you have at your disposal.  This can also apply to your approach to new dietary changes or new workouts.  Instead of focusing on everything that you can’t have or how scared you are of your new workout regimen, try thinking instead about all of the new foods you will get to try or how exhilarating it will be to mix up your workouts!  Regardless of the situation, the way you think about a situation has a massive effect on the situation.  It can be a positive or negative effect—your choice.

Gratitude
I think this one sneaks up on people and we tend to forget about it.  I just watched a vision board video where the missing link to vision board creation is discussed and do you know what the missing link was?  Gratitude.  It’s okay to want something better, but make sure that you send out gratitude for what you have now.  For example, I’m in a phase where I started a new job, I’m way more sedentary, and the candy drawer has been far too inviting for me to handle.  I am definitely turning a corner in my dietary changes because, hello, I want to feel good all the time, not crappy from overdosing on chocolate, and now that it’s getting warm out, I’m beginning to be more active outdoors.  My mindset as I make these adjustments is: a. completely different than any other time in my life and b. begins with gratitude.  I am so grateful that I have a healthy, strong body to carry me through my days.  I have no chronic diseases or disorders and I would like to keep it that way.  I’m grateful that I have access to affordable, healthy foods and that I have WiFi and a kitchen to prepare fun recipes to keep me out of a rut and excited about the food I’m eating.  I’m grateful that I live two blocks from a beautiful lake that I don’t mind running around.  I’m so fortunate to have all of these things.  I am very grateful for the body I have, and I want to improve it to be stronger and fitter.  I want to be able to take this body for a 10k run by fall and I’m going to visualize the crap out of that, when race day gets closer!  But do you see how I took, “ugh, I’m getting fat, from this job that keeps me sedentary”, to something more positive?  It’s a game changer.  I promise.

A couple other random tips that I love and use:

Affirmations
Some good ones I’ve seen include:
I accept myself unconditionally right now.
I love and respect my body and it loves and respects me.
I love my food and my food loves me.
I am strong.  I am healthy.  I am capable.

Vibrations
Ask yourself: does it raise my vibe?  Long term, does it make you feel good?  Does it drive health, wellness, and happiness?  You know how you eat pizza and brownies for a week straight and then you feel super shitty for that entire week….and into the next?  That’s low vibe/low energy food.  High vibe behaviors raise your energy.  It can be a great workout, green juice, coffee, fruit salad for dessert.  In general, high vibe foods are considered raw, whole foods that are close to their natural state.  Processed foods are considered lower vibe.  This is not to say that you can’t treat yo self occasionally, but I’m talking on a consistent basis….do your choices raise your vibration?

I think that’s about all I wanted to touch on this one with mindset, but if you have any questions, always feel free to reach out.

xoxo,

anne