28 Day Diet Challenge - Day 20

(Sponsored by Whole Foods Market)

Good health comes from the food that you eat, not from a bottle of supplements!

Natural foods are highly complex -- so complex that the exact structure and the majority of compounds they contain are not precisely known. A tomato, for example, contains over 10,000 different phytochemicals which are essential for human health and well-being.

Scientists cannot formulate into pills nutrients that have not yet been discovered. If the pills did contain sufficient amounts of all the phyto-nutrients and other essential substances, we would have to consume a soup bowl full of pills and powders. To date, researchers have discovered over 10,000 phytochemicals. No supplements can contain the magnitude and diversity of substances in sufficient amounts. Thankfully, you can get all these nutrients today by eating a wide variety of plant-based foods.

CAUTION: Phytochemicals in freshly harvested plant foods may be destroyed or removed by modern processing techniques, possibly including cooking, so eat as many raw veggies as possible.

Your Action Plan: Don’t rely on pills and supplements to get your primary nutrition. Instead, eat properly and follow the advice on the pages of this blog,  fruits, veggies, nuts, some grains, fish, chicken and fresh, uncooked greens are the healthiest foods that you can consume, with the bulk being from fruits and vegetables.

Breakfast

• Creamy Green Smoothie
• 1⁄4 cup almonds

Green Smoothie

 Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1 apple, cut into fourths
• 1 banana
• 1/2 avocado
• 4 pitted dates
• 2 ounces spinach

Directions
Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until smooth and enjoy!

Lunch

• Southern-Style Mixed Greens
• Brussels Sprouts Polonaise
• Pear

Southern-Style Mixed Greens

 Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Dash of black pepper
• 1 15-ounce can black eyed peas or white beans (no or low salt), drained
• 1 cup chopped yellow peppers
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/8 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette or Italian Dressing
• 10 ounces (about 7 cups) mixed salad greens

Directions

1. Combine water, garlic, and black pepper in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Add black eyed peas; cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Drain.
2. In a bowl, combine black eyed peas with yellow peppers and next four ingredients. Cover and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
3. Serve over salad greens.

*If you can't find low or no salt black eyed peas, use low or no salt small white beans instead.

Brussels Sprouts Polonaise 

 Serves: 3 — Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients

• 6 cups Brussels sprouts
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons natural brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash or other no-salt seasoning
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk or fat-free milk

Directions

1. Cut large sprouts in half. Steam for 8 minutes or until tender.
2. Blend lemon juice, sugar, garlic, Mrs. Dash, 1/4 cup parsley, and milk in blender and pour over sprouts.
3. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Dinner

• Tossed green salad with avocado slices and Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Black Forest Cream of Mushroom Soup (Save leftover for Day 21 lunch.)
• Banana Date Ice Cream

Black Forest Cream of Mushroom Soup

 Serves: 8 — Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds mixed fresh mushrooms (button, shiitake, cremini), sliced 1/4" thick
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 teaspoons herb de Provence (Blend of savory, fennel, basil, thyme)
• 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery, chopped
• 3 leeks, cut into 1⁄2inch rounds
• 4 tablespoons Mrs. Dash
• 5 cups carrot juice
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 cans white beans, northern, navy, or cannellini (no salt)
• 5-oz bag spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Heat 1/8 cup water in large sauté pan. Water sauté the fresh mushrooms, garlic and dried herbs until tender and fragrant. Set aside.
2. In large soup pot, bring carrot juice, water, carrots, celery, leeks and Mrs. Dash to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Puree 1/2 vegetable soup in high powered blender; add cashews, lemon juice, and fresh herbs. Blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Add pureed soup back to soup pot along with mushrooms, beans, and spinach.
6. Heat until spinach is wilted.
7. Serve garnished with fresh chopped parsley.

Banana-Date Ice Cream 

 Serves: 4 — Prep Time: 6 minutes 

Ingredients

• 12 dates
• 4 ripe bananas, frozen*
• 5 tablespoons low-fat milk
• 2 teaspoons natural brown sugar (Optional)

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until creamy.

*Freeze ripe bananas 24 hrs in advance. To freeze bananas, peel, cut in thirds and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

28 Day Diet Challenge - Day 19

(Sponsored by Whole Foods Market)

Since fish is generally low in saturated fat and high in beneficial omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA,), it is an essential part of any healthy diet, and especially the Mediterranean diet that this website is mostly concerned with. However, you still have to be careful eating certain kinds of fish, because it is becoming one of the polluted food sources that we eat. In addition to industrial and fossil fuel pollution, nearly all fish and shellfish contain some degree of mercury. Larger fish that have lived longer have the highest levels of mercury because they've had more time to accumulate it. They also build up mercury from all the smaller fish they have eaten, similar to the way we store mercury in our tissues from the fish we eat.

When we eat fish we have to choose the species that are cleaner and have less mercury, preferably farm raised or domestically caught fresh or canned fish (i.e. tuna)


Your Action Plan: While fish is healthy, too much can be moderately un-healthy. Therefore, don't have fish more than three times a week.

• If you do have fish, choose from the lower-fat, lowest mercury types, such as flounder, haddock, salmon, sardines, scallops, sole, tilapia and trout.
• Avoid high mercury fish, such as bluefish, mackerel, marlin, sea bass, shark, swordfish, tilefish and tuna.
• Be aware of the place where it was caught and what type of fish it is. I would never accept recreationally caught fish from ANY waters and never eat high-mercury-content fish. It simply isn't worth the risk.

Breakfast

• Sprouted grain bread with raw peanut butter
• Banana, alone or sliced on top of the bread
• Juice

Lunch

• Asparagus with Blackberry Vinaigrette
• Super Soup (Leftover from Day 18 dinner!)
• Blueberries

Asparagus with Almonds and Blackberry Vinaigrette

 Serves: 4 — Prep Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Blackberry infused vinegar (or Balsamic vinegar with blackberry preserves, see below)*
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon finely crushed almond
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium ketchup
• 2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed then cut on the bias (diagonal) into 2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped**

*If using any vinegar other than Blackberry infused vinegar: Boil 1-2 tablespoons of blackberry preserves with the 1/3 cup of whatever vinegar, for 3 minutes, cool to room temperature and serve.

Directions

1. Boil vinegar (or vinegar and blackberry preserves) in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Pour vinegar into large bowl.
2. Combine water with no salt seasoning. Whisk into vinegar, along with mustard, marjoram, garlic, almond butter and ketchup. Set dressing aside.
3. Sauté asparagus in small amount of water, not covering the asparagus, stirring over high heat for 3 minutes, then cover and steam for 1-2 minutes. Remove to a bowl.
4. In same pan, sauté bell peppers in a small amount of water for 2 minutes.
5. Add asparagus and bell peppers to dressing; toss to blend well.
6. Sprinkle with pecans.

**Lightly toast almonds in a 200 degree oven for 3 minutes. 

Super Soup

 Leftover from Day 18 Dinner, found HERE!

Dinner

• Tossed green salad (Your choice)
• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Fresh Baked Fish 
• Eggplant Roulades
• "Banerry" Pie

Balsamic Vinaigrette

 Serves: 5 — Prep Time: 8 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 6 tablespoons roasted garlic infused vinegar
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or less)
• 4 tablespoons raisins
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

1. Blend or whisk all ingredients together.

Yields: 1 1/3 cups 

Baked Tilapia

 
Ingredients (For 4)

• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 Onion, sliced thin
• 4 fresh tilapia fillets
• 2 lemons, 1 quartered, 1 halved
• Italian herb mix

Directions

1. Season fish with Italian herbs and juice of 1 of the lemons
2. Bake fish in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes
3. Sauté onion and carrot in water until tender.
4. Garnish fish with carrot and onion and serve!

Eggplant Roulades

 Serves: 6 — Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick lengthwise
• 2 medium red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 ounces spinach
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
• 2 cups pasta sauce, no or low salt
• 6 ounces low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a paper towel moistened with olive oil, lightly oil a non-stick baking pan. Arrange eggplant in a single layer.
2. Bake about 20 minutes or until the eggplant is flexible enough to easily roll. Set aside.
3. In 1/8 cup water, sauté the bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until just tender, adding more water if needed. Add spinach and Mrs. Dash. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Mix in 2 to 3 tablespoons of pasta sauce and shredded soy cheese.
4. In a baking pan, spread about 1/4 cup tomato sauce. Place some of the vegetable mixture on each eggplant slice, roll and place in baking pan on top of sauce.
5. Pour remaining tomato sauce over eggplant rolls. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through.

“Banerry” Pie 

 Serves: 8 — Prep Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients - Crust

• 4 dates
• 1 1/2 muesli cereal
• 2 tablespoons coconut

Ingredients - Filling

• 10 ounces frozen strawberries
• 10 pitted dates, chopped
• 5 bananas
• 1/2 Haas avocado
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon natural brown sugar
• 6-8 fresh strawberries, for garnish (optional)

Directions 

For crust:

In a bowl, thoroughly blend the dates, coconut and muesli. Transfer mixture to pie plate, pressing down to make pie crust.

For filling:

1. Blend all filling ingredients, except for coconut and fresh strawberries, until smooth.
2. Pour into the pie crust. Sprinkle with coconut.
3. Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours before serving.
4. Top the pie with slice fresh strawberries and serve

28 Day Diet Challenge - Day 18

(Sponsored by Whole Foods Market)

Your Action Plan: Let seeds, nuts and avocados be your main source of healthy fats. When cooking with fat, strictly use extra-virgin olive oil as it is the healthiest cooking oil. Be careful with the olive oil as one tablespoon has 120 calories, one-quarter cup has 500 calories…so use it sparingly!

Breakfast

• Special Oatmeal
• Pomegranate juice

Ultimate Oatmeal 

 Serves: 4 — Prep Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 6 pitted dates, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 cup chopped or grated apple
• 1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

Directions

1. In saucepan, bring water to a boil and stir in all ingredients, except blueberries and flax seeds. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in blueberries. Sprinkle flax seeds on top or stir in. Cover for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Lunch

• Whole-wheat pita stuffed with shredded romaine, sliced tomato, broccoli sprouts, and avocado slices
• Tomato Almond Dressing/Dip
• Healthy Slaw
• Cherries

Italian Dressing

 This Italian dressing isn’t just for salads. Feel free to use as a marinade on fish, chicken or pork. You can also use as a dressing on cold pasta salad.

Liquid Ingredients

1 cup preferred vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
1-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

Dry Ingredients

2 finely minced garlic cloves

2 tablespoons finely minced onion

1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

1. Pour dry ingredients into a glass jar or bottle with a cover.

2. Whisk the liquid ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients

3. Cover and shake well.

4. Let sit for at least 4 hours for the flavors to meld together.

Stores unrefrigerated for 1 month.

Healthy Slaw 

Serves: 3 — Prep Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients - Slaw

• 2 cups shredded apples
• 1 cup shredded raw cabbage
• 1 cup shredded raw beets
• 1 cup shredded raw carrots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans or almonds

Directions

1. Combine slaw ingredients.
2. Blend Italian dressing ingredients and toss with slaw.
3. Sprinkle pecans or almonds over slaw.

Dinner

• Citrus Salad with Orange Peanut Dressing
• Anti-Cancer Soup  (Save leftovers for Day Nineteen lunch)
• Melon

Citrus Salad with Orange Peanut Dressing 

 Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients - Orange Peanut Dressing

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter, natural and unsalted
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
• 1/4 medium clove garlic, chopped

Dressing yields four servings. leftover dressing may be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

Ingredients - Salad

• 15 ounces or 10 cups baby lettuce mix
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 orange, peeled, cut in half and sliced
• 1/2 small sweet onion, thinly sliced and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Directions

1. Blend all dressing ingredients in high powered blender or food processor until smooth.
2. To prepare salad, arrange avocado slices, onions, and orange rounds on top of lettuce. Pour dressing over salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

*Lightly toast sesame seeds in a pan over medium heat for three minutes, shaking pan frequently. 

Super Soup

 Serves: 10 — Prep Time: 20 minutes

(Save the leftover for lunch tomorrow!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried split peas and/or beans
• 4 cups water
• 4 medium onions
• 6-10 medium zucchini
• 3 leek stalks
• 2 bunches kale, collards or other greens, chopped, tough stems and center ribs cut off and discarded
• 5 pounds carrots (or 4-5 cups juice)
• 2 bunches of organic celery (or 2 cups juice)
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped

Directions

1. Place the beans and water in a very large pot over low heat.
2. Add whole onions, whole zucchini and whole leeks to the pot along with chopped kale. Add carrot juice, celery juice and Mrs. Dash.
3. Simmer mixture until onions, zucchini and leeks are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the soft onions, zucchini, and leeks from the pot along with some of the soup liquid, being careful to leave the beans and some of the kale in the pot.
4. Using a blender or food processor, completely blend/puree the onions, zucchini, and leeks. Add more soup liquid and the cashews to the mixture, and blend in. Return the blended, creamy mixture back to the pot. Add the mushrooms and simmer another 30 minutes or until beans are soft.

28 Day Diet Challenge - Day 17

(Sponsored by Whole Foods Market)

The “Frequent Eating" Myth

We have already addressed the diet myths of milk and animal protein, now let’s talk about the notion that snacking is a good thing or that you need to eat many small meals to rev up your metabolism.

There are many studies that show that the more frequently you eat the more calories you wind up putting in at the end of the day so frequent eating does not help you lose weight faster, rev up your metabolism or improve your health. If anything eating more often just puts more pounds on. Other physical concerns with eating often or snacking include:

• The digestive track needs to rest in order to properly replenish its digestive enzymes so it can digest food properly.
• Detoxification and self-repair is much more efficient when the body is not digesting food.

The best (and really only solution) is to eat only when you are hungry! Eating when hungry means eating three meals a day or sometimes less, depending on how hungry you are. The only real exception is if you are an athlete or a physical laborer. For the rest of us, we must strive to eat at meals only and get away from ‘recreational eating’ when not really hungry.

In real life, people generally snack between meals to satisfy food cravings or we consume empty calories while eating for recreational purposes. When we cut out recreational eating, we experience how much more enjoyable it is to eat when we are really hungry. Then, we find that unprocessed, natural food tastes much better. This heightened taste sensation that accompanies true hunger gives us terrific feedback to inhibit overeating behavior so we can actually get more pleasure out of our diet.

Your Action Plan: See if you can move closer to three meals a day, without snacking and include plenty of vegetables and beans with lunch and dinner and fruit after the meal.  Later you’ll learn how to snack healthily, but first you have to break the habit all together.

Breakfast

• Chocolate Smoothie

Chocolate Smoothie 

Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients

• 5 ounces organic baby spinach
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup unsweetened fat-free milk
• 1 medium banana
• 2 dates, pitted
• 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

Directions
Blend all ingredients together in a high powered blender until smooth and creamy.

Lunch

• Mixed greens, avocado, and tomatoes with low-fat, low-salt dressing
• Roasted Vegetable Pizza
• Apple

Veggie Pizza 

Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients

• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 large red bell pepper, sliced 1 inch thick
• 1 large Portobello mushroom, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning
• 5 ounces organic baby spinach
• 2 whole grain tortillas
• 1/2 cup pasta sauce, no or low salt
• 2 ounces skim-milk cheese, grated

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toss broccoli, bell peppers, and mushrooms with garlic powder, balsamic vinegar, and seasoning. Roast seasoned vegetables on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes, turning occasionally and mounding to keep from drying out.
3. Steam spinach until just wilted.
4. Remove vegetables when done and preheat oven to 450 degrees.
5. Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce on tortilla, sprinkle soy cheese, and distribute roasted vegetables and spinach on top.
6. Bake for approximately 7 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortilla is lightly brown around edges.
7. Serve over brown rice, if desired.

Dinner

• Raw vegetables (carrots, red pepper, broccoli)
• Caesar Salad Dressing/Dip
• Southwestern Chicken (Vegetarian substitute—Quick Vegetable Bean Medley)
• Cauliflower Spinach Mashed “Potatoes” (EASIER alternative— Steamed Asparagus)
• Mixed Berry Freeze (need frozen bananas) or fresh fruit

Note: Freeze bananas for Mixed Berry Freeze for dinner on Day Seventeen.

Caesar Salad Dressing

Serves: 3 — Prep Time: 8 minutes 

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, roasted*
• 1/2 cup unsweetened fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup raw cashew or peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Black pepper

Directions

1. Roast garlic. Remove skins and blend with the rest of the ingredients in a high powered blender until creamy and smooth.

*To roast garlic; break the cloves apart. Leave the papery skins on. Roast at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until mushy. 

Southwestern Chicken

Serves: 4 — Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1 cup salsa, low sodium
• 1 cup black beans or red kidney beans, low or no sodium
• 1 cup fresh or frozen sweet corn
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix salsa, beans, corn, and cilantro together.
3. Spoon 1/2 of the salsa mixture over the chicken and marinade for at least one hour.
4. Bake chicken for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
5. Slice the chicken breasts and top with remaining salsa mixture.

Cauliflower and Spinach Mash

Serves: 4 — Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients

• 6 cups cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 10 ounces fresh organic spinach or organic baby spinach
• Fat-free milk
• 2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash or other no-salt seasoning, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Steam cauliflower and garlic about 8 to 10 minutes or until tender.
2. Drain and press out as much water as possible in strainer.
3. Place spinach in steamer, steam until just wilted and set aside.
4. Process cauliflower, garlic, and cashew butter in a food processor with “S” blade in place until creamy and smooth. Check the consistency. If it is too thick, add a small amount of soy or hemp milk, process some more and check again.
5. Add Mrs. Dash or other no-salt seasoning and nutmeg, adjusting to taste.
6. Mix pureed cauliflower with wilted spinach.

Serve hot or warm.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsweetened fat-free milk
• 1/2 ripe banana, frozen*
• 1 10-ounce package of frozen mixed berries
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

Directions

1. Place the soy or help milk in a food processor, with the S blade in place (or use a high powered blender).
2. Turn the machine on and drop in small slices of frozen banana, one by one.
3. Add the berries and mix.
4. Place in serving bowls and top with flax seeds.

*Freeze ripe bananas at least 24 hours in advance. To freeze bananas, peel, cut in thirds, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. The same recipe can also be made with other frozen fruit.

28 Day Diet Challenge - Day 16

(Sponsored by Whole Foods Market)

The Myth of the American Diet

For years, the USDA Food Pyramid has suggested we consume animal products - beef, chicken, eggs and fish - in order to get the protein our body needs.  This myth has contributed to our epidemic of heart disease and cancers.  Diets lower in animal products and higher in high protein plant foods have been shown to protect against common cancers, reduce heart disease and of course, lead you to a lower body weight. 

Keep in mind that green vegetables, beans, seeds and nuts are also high protein foods.  In fact, broccoli has twice as much protein per calorie as a hamburger. Think about it… the biggest animals, elephants, giraffes, horses, gorillas and even cows eat only plant foods.  When you eat plant protein, your body gets flooded with anti-oxidants and other protective micro nutrients, without the cholesterol and saturated fat in animal products. Then you can’t develop heart disease. 

We do need protein and we can’t be healthy without protein in our diet. On the other hand, plant foods have plenty of protein and you don’t need to mix and match foods to try to achieve protein completeness. Any combination of natural plant-based foods will supply you with adequate protein. It is only when a vegetarian diet centers around white bread and other processed foods that the protein content falls to low levels. However, the minute you include unprocessed foods like vegetables, whole grains, beans or nuts, the diet becomes protein-rich.

Your Action Plan: Eat a diet rich in greens, beans, nuts and seeds to get all your protein needs met. Start to challenge the conventional myths we have been told about protein and in no time, you will be living a Nutritarian – effortlessly losing weight and achieving great health.

Breakfast

• Oatmeal and Fruit Compote

Oatmeal and Fruit Compote 

 Serves: 2 — Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients

• Fresh fruits, chopped
• Raisins or other dried fruits, chopped
• Soy milk, orange juice or pomegranate juice, to cover for soaking
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• ¼ cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. To make fruit compote: Combine the fresh and dried fruits in a glass jar along with some soy milk or juice for soaking. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, prepare rolled oats according to directions on package.
3. Add fruit compote and nuts to the oatmeal.

Lunch

• Raw vegetables (broccoli, red pepper)
• Tahini Dressing/Dip (save leftover for dinner salad)
• Speedy Vegetable and Bean Soup (Leftover from Day Fifteen dinner.)
• Grapes

Tahini Dressing/Dip 

 Serves: 4 — Prep Time: 6 minutes 

(Save the leftovers for dinner!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup raw tahini (pureed sesame seeds)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash or other no-salt seasoning
• 6-8 pitted dates, to taste
• 1/2 medium banana
• 1 clove garlic, chopped

Directions
Blend all ingredients together in a high powered blender until smooth and creamy.

Vegetables and Beans Soup

Leftover from Day 15 Dinner

Dinner

• Mixed Greens
• Tahini Dressing/Dip
• Thai Vegetable Curry
• Fresh fruit

Note: Freeze bananas for Mixed Berry Freeze for dinner on Day Seventeen.

Tahini Dressing/Dip

(Leftover from Lunch)

Thai Vegetable Curry 

Serves: 8 — Prep Time: 40 minutes 

Ingredients

• 4 cups brown rice or quinoa, cooked
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups carrot juice
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 large eggplant, peeled, if desired & cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 cups green beans, cut in 2 inch lengths
• 3 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 1 small can bamboo shoots
• 2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash or other no salt seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 3 tablespoons chunky peanut butter, natural unsalted
• 2 pounds tofu, cut into 1/4" thick slices
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 2 cups watercress leaves, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped raw cashews
• Mint, basil, cilantro not chopped (for garnish, if desired)
• 1 tablespoon date sugar, or 2 dates

Directions

1. Cook brown rice or quinoa according to package directions and set aside until ready to serve.
2. Add remaining ingredients (except for peanut butter, tofu, coconut milk, 1 cup of the watercress and cashews) to wok or large skillet. Bring to a boil and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until all vegetables are tender. Mix in peanut butter. Add tofu, simmer and toss until hot.
3. Add coconut milk and heat through.