Awesome new curry recipe, movie review, book review, and more thoughts on my new lifestyle...

I made this red lentil, potato, and pea curry last night and it turned out really good. The best part is it is even better the next day! I followed the recipe almost exactly except I used straight up water instead of veggie stock because I realized right before I was about to toss my boullion cubes in that they had MSG!!! Ah! And I used plain curry powder instead of garam masala. Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_lentil_curry.htm

Put it over some brown rice- even Chris liked it! There, that is as good a recommendation as you can get. I hope it balanced out the entire box of frozen fried chicken he came home from the grocery store with on Christmas! Ah!

Also I have been enjoying our new Netflix account- there are so many great documentaries about food and how it can contribute (or ruin) health. Here's a good one: The Beautiful Truth. Roughly, it is about the Gerson therapy for cancer and other things. Apparently, a doctor named Gerson came up with a "therapy" that he used to cure himself of sickness, and other people as well. He cured people like, um, Albert Schweizer!! The guy is legit. Of course, he came up against naysayers (the medical profession) that tried to discredit him and his therapy and he was eventually poisoned by arsenic! Luckily, his daughter Charlotte carries on his legacy and people are still benefitting (being saved from "uncaurable" cancers, etc.) from his legacy today.

Briefly, his therapy included lots of fresh fruit and veggie juice throughout the day, coffee enemas, and no meat, dairy, eggs, etc. Looks a lot like a nice vegan diet, huh? (Minus the coffee enemas. I mean, I drink about 1 pot of coffee per day so actually that is the same thing, right? TMI?) I really need to get a juicer though...

Anyhow, the movie brought up some other health issues that I need to investigate further like the dangers of fluoride and dental amalgum (very scary!)

And I have been reading "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," by Caldwell Esselstein and it is very good. Apparently, olive oil is not healthy! In fact, if you are eating any fat at all in your diet it can contribute to plaque accumulation and heart disease. Well, I tried giving up oil for a few days (stir fried in water, meh) and realized that it might be too much, too soon to take my diet to that "extreme". I am just getting used to eating a mostly vegan diet and eliminating oil is just too much for me at this point. So for now I will try and reduce my usage and see where I can substitute other things for oils in our diets. I will continue to experiment with stir frying in water. But my main focus right now is eliminating animal protein from our diet and increasing plants. If that means they are stir fried in oil for the time being, fine. Baby steps, as the saying goes.

Regarding the new "healthy eating" guidelines from the US government: I love how they have a plate that is divided to show how much of each food you should have. Esp. loving that half the plate is fruit and veg! But. What is up with the dairy section? You can blame the dairy lobby for that one. Has anyone in government read "The China Study??!!" My God. Isn't it bad enough we give it to kids free as part of the subsidized lunches. Now it is recommended for good health. Oh well. Pizza is a vegetable, right Congress?? Go, America!

I love short and intense workouts, and short and intense veggie recipes!

This weekend I saw some friends and these days people keep telling me how good I look (I lost all the baby weight thanks to Bodyrock.tv). Eating healthy and plant-strong (I love that term) is definitely helping! Actually, when I work out I am motivated to eat healthy. And when I eat healthy I have the energy to workout! They go together, right? My friends and I were in Marshall's and we happened across some Kettelbells. I immediately launched into telling them how great KBs are and how effective of a workout you can get with a simple KB swing...they were like, Aly, you need to make a workout video! Uh, there are tons for free on Bodyrock.tv! Why would I make one when Zuzana is way more in shape and well-spoken than I am! (I just love her). They said that I could really motivate people. My personality, I guess? Must be! Anyways, just for fun I made them a workout! I am not posting it here but it is the same workout here: http://www.bodyrock.tv/2011/05/23/run-the-world-workout/.

Anyhow, I am getting into a groove with eating and have some fave recipes now. Oatmeal with berries, chia seeds and banana is a regular thing, as is a veggie topped bagel with Toffutti. I also love wraps on sprouted tortillas and kale and bean soup- so easy and YUM! Not to mention making flatbread with whole wheat flour and topping with garlic salt and sundried tomatoes (and a little parmesan!). We eat a lot of pastas and spinach salads with pecans and cranberries.

Geez, who said eating veggie was boring and bland? ME, oh yeah. That's what I used to think. How wrong I was! I get such a kick out of making delicious food that I know is good for my family's health and tastes good.

Tonight I am thinking of making this Thai Curry Tofu recipe over rice: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/thai-curry-tofu/detail.aspx. Another beautiful spinach salad. And maybe some homemade flabreads, too! Oh man. Delish!