Non-Creamy Creamy Pasta Sauce--YUM!

I'm so proud! We ate something DIFFERENT tonight!
And I made it--from scratch! :) :)

Between Mingus's food allergies and being distracted by two wiley children, it's much easier to stick to our go-to menu options rather than experiment with new ideas. Why?

(1) It takes longer

(2) It often requires special shopping--i.e. planning ahead

(3) It requires special research/adjusting to make sure it's Mingus-friendly

A week of supper is pretty predictable, around here: spaghetti, tacos, turkey burgers, stir fry & baked chicken... Plus a wild card or two here and there.

Last night we made stir fry (Jalfrezi sauce--a husband favorite) but our Zaycon chicken breasts tend to be MASSIVE and when it's just two and a half people (Lou=Half) we don't need that much... So I halfed the breast last night and had to figure out what to do with the remainder tonight. 

It would have been kind of small to just bake it and split it among us... I suppose I could have done fajitas, but I had chicken Alfredo on my mind--something we have never enjoyed together due to the creamy essence that makes Alfredo what it is! 

Creamy = Non-Mingus-Friendly

But we have talked about trying an oil-based sauce with pasta (especially since turning husband onto basil and Italian style bread-dipping oils.) I did a little Pinteresting to see what came up and I actually was still looking for an olive oil recipe when I read this one. I noticed the "white beans" in the ingredients which seemed odd, only then to see it called for "non-dairy milk"--wha??? Seeing that I actually HAD all of the listed ingredients (save a fresh lemon), I had to try.

BINGO! It was a winner! 

I actually thin I'd like to puree a large amount of the sauce and try to save it (freeze it?) so it's easy for a quick meal. (Not that making it from scratch is hard or long... just a little more mess to clean up afterwards.)

Here's my version of the recipe:

 • 1 can white beans (Great Northern)

• 1/4 c Unsweetened Almond milk (other non-dairy milks could be used)

• 3 garlic cloves (I like to error on the side of too much garlic)

• 1 T parsley

• 1/2 t onion powder

• 1/8 t nutmeg

• Juice of lemon*

• Salt & Pepper as desired

* I used lemon juice instead and just guessed...about that much.

Combined & Puree (I used my trusty Nutribullet)

I added the sauce to my sliced and cooking chicken. I also threw in some organic Greystone Garden broccoli. Mingus said he's down for a repeat!

Sugar Dump Week 1: 9g/day... Fail?

One week of NO SUGAR (well, refined sugars to be specific) down ...aaannnd... How'd I do?

Excellent...yet failed miserably at the same time!

As promised, I have been keeping record of what I'm eating each day to track my sugar intake. I've kind of categorized things in 3 ways:
     - Naturally occurring sugars (like those in fruit)
     - Natural sweeteners (like honey, agave)
     - Refined Sugars (sugar, high fructose corn syrup)

With the first two, it's hard to track my sugar intake unless they are being used within another food that I bought at a store and the nutritional info is listed. For example, I've eaten a lot of grapes and pineapple this week... NO idea the sugar on those so they are not included in my totals; I simply mark them on my sheet to denote I DID get sugar from them. (Although I'm sure I could research online and get the info easy enough.) On the other hand, I bought a bag of apples and they had nutritional info.... 16g of sugar per (what they considered a) small apple! Perfect example of why there is absolutely NO reason to ever add sugar to your diet!

And I'll tell you one thing I've already learned... What's the fastest way to get me to refill the honey pot? Tell me I can't have sugar!! Our squeeze bear and our honey pot have both been empty for a couple of months now... We have VERY limited honey left from what we extracted two years ago (plus it's a sticky mess to refill), so both Mingus and I have put off refilling either... But, let me tell you, two days into no sugar you can bet I was digging out what honey we had left!

But, the point is, I did consume honey last week... in multiple things... I can't really track that one either, assuming it brings some type of sugar into my system. 

So total, for what I could track--of good and bad sugars--I consumed 233g last week, averaging 33g a day. How much was refined sugar? 63g... 27% of it. I averaged 9g of refined sugar a day even when I was cutting out everything to the best I could!! Now just imagine how much sugar I have been getting on a daily basis when I WASN'T cutting it out? When I was enjoying bagels, instant oatmeal, ice cream, chocolate...

So here's where my refined sugar came from:

• Pasta Sauce: It's REALLY hard to find it without sugar... And we figured we didn't want to throw out what we already had open so this was definitely our biggest downfall. The Ragu we had contained 12g in 1/2 a cup of sauce!!
• Ketchup: We LOVE our Brook's ketchup... Bad news... It has high fructose corn syrup :( But, again, we didn't want to waste what we already have open, but it has 5g/2T!
• Store-bought breads: hotdog and burger buns plus any bread. I guess I need to get back to making my own and not just bumming a loaf a week off of my mom! These breads had 3g/serving... And sugar was actually listed as an ingredient. I'm sure our bread has sugar, but in the natural way and from the honey.
• Balsamic Vinegrette Dressing: It's open in our fridge and for the little bit that is in there I have gone ahead and used it on the salads I made this week.... 4g/2T...
• Ritz Crackers: For the record, I only ate a few... Because the packet was already open and would go bad if they sat for 40 days!

So, you can see, it's not like I was consuming the obvious sugar-loaded foods. In fact... most of the things we ate that had refined sugar were very minor amounts (in comparison to most sugar foods), but it adds up so quickly! Again, if I'm getting 9g/day and really trying to keep the stuff out... just imagine the overload we all get when we're not paying attention?

Has it been hard? Yes and no. 

Ironically, the hardest and most tempting place I've been has been church! Darn the good people and their delicious baked goods!! Both on Ash Wednesday and after Sunday mass there was food in the basement. I know I gave myself the "cheat once a week" rule and I was SO tempted to use it this past Sunday, but I opted out... I knew if I just got out of there I wouldn't regret not touching any of those donuts or pastries... 

The other hard part is breakfast... Not so much at home. I have been fixing oatmeal, but last Friday I headed out early. There was absolutely nowhere I could stop and grab something to eat, particularly because, in combination with the no sugar, as a Catholic I don't eat meat on Fridays... so no breakfast sandwiches either. At least I thought of my limited options before I left the house and I grabbed an apple... (16g of sugar right there--but natural!)

I did make a trip to Whole Foods to shop for items we needed (spaghetti sauce) and items I could use for snacking throughout the day. (This breastfeeding thing keeps me hungry constantly!) While I did not find teriyaki sauce or pasta sauce with zero sugar... I did find it with either organic cane sugar, cane syrup or agave syrup instead. In fact, everything I got at whole foods that had some amount of sugar content, I was able to get with one of those natural, organic sugars/sweeteners.

How did the shopping trip turned out?

Having new, safe, healthier snack options in the house has saved me big time! It's kind of funny when I think about it... I thoroughly enjoy snacking on what my options have been this week: grapes, pineapple, apples, sesame sticks, dried fruit and nuts, rice crackers, sweet potato chips, peanut butter... I think my past problem has been two fold: (a) I have bad sweets available in the house (b) As long as those sweet treats are there, the 'healthy' snacks don't appeal.

Mingus has been happy with his decision to nix the sugar as well. While we don't keep soda on hand, he typically drinks it for lunch and cutting it is definitely helping him. We've enjoyed a lot of popcorn for our late night snack (no microwave of course). 

Oh... And I have found my ice cream substitute: plain organic yogurt with honey and a drop of vanilla... Yum!!

After 3 Years... I finally said, "I Do!"

Our relationship really began more than three years ago, but you were more just like a good friend that I took for granted. Either way there is no denying that you helped me grow and develop into the woman I became and even though I definitely went through an era of blowing you off more than embracing you, you were always there and I always knew you were an important part of my life.

Then, three years ago, I looked back to my roots and to the ups and downs myself and those close to me had been through. I knew it was time to bring you back into my life and embrace you and all you were willing to do for me. So I did. Healthy eating and getting the nutrients my body yearned for became a daily part of my life again, as well as my husband's (then boyfriend). With that, together we began eating healthy meals together, made from whole, raw fruits and vegetables. We set on a track to begin gardening and preserving our own foods. We also began taking Juice Plus+.

Source

My commitment to "walk the walk" about healthy eating really began three years ago, as Mingus and I were dating and his food allergies (no dairy, eggs, red meat) forced him to do a lot of in-home cooking. At this time I also began to understand that even with my best efforts to eat well, fruits and vegetables were miracle workers when it came to my health and getting enough on a daily basis was next to impossible. In addition to smoothies being part of "walking the walk", Juice Plus+ also became a part of this walk.

Most people need to be told to "walk the walk" if they are going to "talk the talk". I, on the other hand, have spent three years walking the walk and have finally taken up the courage to "talk the talk".

I'm the furthest thing from a salesman anyone could be as I don't even like to push my general opinions with people unless I know they are are on the same page as me. (Unless we're talking about the color purple. I'll always tell you it's the best color ever.) 

But after three years of learning about Juice Plus+ and making it a part of mine and my husband's life and knowing our good health is a results of it, I can no longer not talk the talk. So I made the commitment to no longer be scared to bring the product to other people, if for no other reason than to simply reinforce and educate people on the unbelievable things fruits and vegetables can do for our health and futures. Health solutions are not all about medications and drugs after the fact. Prevention is a lot easier and cheaper. 

We all know fruits and veggies are healthy for us, but I don't think most people understand the miracle workers they are--and how badly we ALL need MORE of them with the direction our overall health as a society is headed.

I have much to share overtime about Juice Plus+ and why I've chosen to take it, support it, and now share it, but here are the highlights:

• It's whole-food based nutrition (REAL fruits and vegetables, check the ingredients for yourself)
• Fruits and vegetables have important antioxidants and phytonutrients our bodies need that we cannot get through vitamins or anything besides the fruits and veggies themselves, but eating enough a day, everyday, is VERY hard. Juice Plus+ helps bridge the gap.
• Currently 29 Juice Plus+ published research studies have been conducted in leading hospitals and universities around the world proving its value--That's not to mention the studies that have not been published.
• It's not a multivitamin, medicine, treatment or cure for any disease. It's prevention and has been proven in numerous studies to improve poor health.

Juice Plus+ or not, start considering how you can get more fruits and veggies in your daily routine even if you're healthy as a horse. Future you will thank you.