Brown Rice Bowl with Crispy Tofu, Veggies and Peanut Sauce

I've been pretty distracted from HGK lately, what with the holidays, the kids being off for spring break, and general life getting in the way. Plus I've been preparing a lot of my tried and true recipes (Mock Chopped Liver and Mina de Masa, to name a few). Not much to report blog wise! Except maybe that trip we took to Great Wolf Lodge where the food available was so abominable that when I was describing it to my friend Chris-Anna I actually started to cry. How is it that as a society we have devolved so far?

Home cooking is definitely where it's at for me these days. There's really no restaurant that I desire to eat at in Cleveland, unless you count the Whole Foods salad bar. Last night's slow food dinner is something that I have been wanting to mention on HGK for many months now. It all started with that visit to Northstar Cafe in Columbus, OH where my daughter and I shared their famous beet burger and an extraordinarily delicious rice bowl. I vowed to learn how to recreate the bowl in my own kitchen, for I just could not live without this in my life. And it's not very often that we get down to Columbus.

This recipe is not, as they say, rocket science.

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Reader Advice Day: Getting Back on the Plant-based Wagon after a Hard Fall

an all-time favorite image

I'm so excited to be back again this week with a second installment of Reader Advice Day! Here's a question that came in this morning, but to be honest with you, I have been itching to discuss this topic with you for the past week. Funny how that happens.

Here's the e-mail that came in:

"Hi there!

I have been a fan of your blog for some time now. I love the reader advice and hope you can help me too.

Over a year ago I had 30 lbs of pregnancy weight to lose. After reading all the books (Furhman, Esselstyn, etc) and watching the films (Hungry for Change, Forks over Knives) I went plant strong. I loved it. Became an expert at cooking the food, exercised daily, felt and looked amazing, lost the weight. I blogged about it and wanted to spread the word to everyone I knew. For 5 months. Then slowly, a cookie here, some seafood, and bam...back to cheeseburger and chips. Now I've been back to the SAD diet longer than I was plant-strong.

The problem is, I can't seem back to get back to my plant-strong lifestyle. I do it for a few days, then the old food creeps in. I don't have the motivation and enthusiasm I did the first time. I am rereading the books and re-watching the films, but it is almost like my brain is telling me 'what's the point because you'll only end up back where you started anyway.' Why, when while being plant-strong I felt and looked amazing AND I loved the food, am I resisting so hard? So, my question is - how do you motivate yourself to start and stay plant strong?"

My thoughts? I have never gone too far off of the wagon, but many times I have gone to places where I don't like what I am doing and how I am eating. And I wondered the same thing you are--how do people stay motivated and make the best choices over and over? 

I also totally understand the initial excitement about a new way of eating, and that carries a lot of us through a certain amount of time. But then we wear down, our old patterns begin to emerge, and over time, we can be right back to where we started.

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Reader Advice Day: A Newbie Takes the Next Steps

Good Morning everybody! It's turning into a very busy week for me with not a lot of time for blogging, but this post has been on my mind for a few weeks and I just need to get it out there.

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a person who has become newly interested in a plant-strong lifestyle. Instead of just answering his question myself, I wanted to get it out there to the community to see what y'all are thinking, so once again, it's reader advice day. Here's his e-mail to me with his question:

"Hi there, I came across your blog during a search for nutritarian blogs. Thank you for what you do!--- recipes, inspiration, beautiful photos!

I am about 1 month new to the plant-strong lifestyle, so I have a lot of research and testing/cooking to do. I was wondering if you had any advice for newbies. Where should I begin? What I have done so far is drink a green smoothie every morning, lower my intake of animal products, cut out processed foods, sugar, and caffeine, and choose the most vegetables possible in my meals. I am ready for the next challenge, but sure which way to go. I cook for my family- a two year old and my wife, both of whom are great sports but not totally sold on a transformation. Do you have recommended reading? Recommended steps to take? Recommended cookbooks (besides your own fantastic recipes!)?

Thanks so much for any direction. I have posted some of my progress on my blog (www.sometruthtothat.blogspot.com)."

My advice? Start reading more books. I have found that no one book covers everything and that the more that I read, the more I become "brain-washed," so-to-speak, for the better. Here's my list of must read books:

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Dr. Fuhrman's Beet, Arugula and Chickpea Salad

I know I've mentioned this before, but I have a $3.95/month subscription to the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center. The main thing that I get out of it is one Dr. Fuhrman approved uber-healthy recipe sent to my e-mail inbox every day. You are probably asking why someone would need such a thing, given the proliferation of healthy recipes on the internet in places like Pinterest and on blogs, plus all of the amazing cookbooks that are now out there.

I just like the reminder that Dr. Fuhrman's Nutritarian recipes are what I am striving for. I'm no where near a perfect Nutritarian (I'm making brownies today with maple syrup in them), but the more real Nutritarian recipes that I can find, make and fall in love with, well, the better.

And that's just what happened with this Beet, Arugula and Chickpea Salad. I had come home later than usual from work last night and I wanted to throw together a nice dinner for my family. I didn't have the time to start washing and chopping salad greens, so the base of arugula here, besides the fact that I adore arugula, was a huge time saver. As was the fact that I always keep Trader Joe's Steamed Beets in my refrigerator. That cuts a whole lotta work outta this recipe.

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Chef Aj's Just Banana Muffins. Possibly the World's Most Perfect Treat.

I'm a sucker for the donut pan.

When I saw this recipe on the Forks Over Knives newsletter/website this week, I was thinking, "How soon can I try this recipe out?" The ingredients are so simple, I was intrigued at the idea of it. Sweetening a muffin with only bananas and applesauce? No date paste, date syrup, maple syrup, stevia, etc.? Could it work? Would my kids like them? My husband? Me?

I'm looking for things that satisfy my sweet tooth, because I see now that it will never go away, no matter what I do. So satisfying it with things that are healthy but don't cause me to overindulge is the key. Ain't nothin' wrong with that. Remember that potato chip commercial, "Betcha can't eat just one!" Well, if I can't eat just one, it doesn't qualify.

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What's Up With All of the Hype About Olive Oil and The Mediterranean Diet?

I'm back today with another video. I just can't stop myself--there's just so much great stuff coming our way right now. I was turned on to this particular piece by Jeff Nelson over at VegSource. Thanks Jeff!

I'm sure you've seen some of the media coverage in the last few weeks about a new study "confirming" how olive oil, nuts, wine, oily fish and the like are all so "good" for you.

What a shame, all of the people buying into this and pouring oil over their food, believing it's an elixir of health, that it will actually prevent you from getting heart disease.

Hogwash. It makes me so mad I think I might actually cry (I'm very emotional these days).

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Did You Miss Dr. Barnard's Appearance on The Dr. Oz Show? Or This Vegan SNL Classic?

I did! I wanted to watch it, I really did, but with so many things demanding my attention every day (and I'm sure yours too!), it's really hard to catch all of the stuff that I want to. I was so happy when I saw that Chef Aj had linked up the entire Dr. Barnard segment on Facebook, and here it is, in it's entirety:

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