What I Eat - Day Forty-Four

Welcome to this week's 'What I Eat!'   

Let's talk about smoothies.  Everyone loves them these days.   Ideally, they contain whole fruits and vegetables, and good sources of protein and fat (flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp hearts, pea protein powder, etc.).   It also ideal to make sure they aren't cold, which often surprises my patients.  Our stomachs work hard to maintain the proper environment for digestion, including temperature.  When we shock our stomach with cold beverages and food, we aren't doing ourselves any favours.   In the summer, a smoothie can be a great way to get good nutrition into our stomach without too much work. 

Now, let's talk about soup.  I had a patient this week who helped me realize that soups are the PERFECT winter replacement for smoothies.  Why do we even need to replace smoothies?  Digesting raw food takes energy, and in the winter we need that energy to stay warm.  Additionally, smoothies tend to be filled with fruits and vegetables that aren't in season.  Our bodies are happiest eating warm, seasonal vegetables in the winter = soup!!!   The good news is, soup is easy.  You can make a huge batch, freeze some, and carry what you need for the day in a thermos.  

*sorry that ALL of this week's pictures are slightly blurry, I'm not sure what's happening with my camera, but I'll sort it out. 

Breakfast - Beets and Apples

I combined a diced apple, diced steamed beets (from last week's post), raw sunflower seeds, and lime juice. 

Lunch - Soup!

Carrot Soup (pictured above)

 Ingredients (I wasn't expecting to make this soup, so I worked with the basic ingredients I had in my fridge.  This soup would have been even more delicious with coconut milk, curry, etc.)
-four cups of water
-6 carrots, cut into chunks
-one onion. minced
-two tbsp. minced ginger (watch out, this soup gets hot fast!)
-dry seasoning of your choice (as a garnish and extra flavour)

Instructions
-brown the onion and ginger in the bottom of a sauce pan with a small abount of oil until soft
-add water and carrots, bring to a boil, cook until carrots soft
-use an immersion blender to puree the soup
-season as desired

Spinach Soup

Ingredients
-water
-one package of frozen, chopped spinach
-one can of white kidney beans, rinsed
-one onion, chopped
-three bulbs of garlic, minced

Instructions
-put all ingredients into a stock pot, except for beans.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for at least half an hour.   Add beans right before serving, just to warm them up. 

Dinner - Pizza

I had a terrible cold and work ran late so, in order to get food into my stomach fast, I picked up a frozen pizza at Independent (also available at Sobey's).   I topped it with chopped tomato, a whole chopped onion from my CSA basket, about a half a head of minced garlic, and chopped olives.   Baking this pizza rendered the garlic and onion just cooked enough to be edible, while still being strongly medicinal (serious antimicrobial powers).    I ate about 3/4 of the pizza.