My transition into a life without MEAT

I wanted to take some time out and discuss my experiences with "Pescatarinism" ( One who eats seafood and no other meats). I am 37 days into the experience and i must say that it is soberly refreshing to dust off some of my old recipes and foodie tricks. When i first decided that i would give this i try, i wanted to do something that was meaningful to me personally and also something that would bring and encourage a healthier lifestyle. I watched a Documentary called, " Why Food Matters" and basically was reassured of my calling, i was reminded why i decided to be a Raw/ Natural Foods Chef. There are so many things that we have no idea is going on with our food, so many of the diseases and bodily pains that we experience can be avoided by redirecting our diets toward a "lighter" lifestyle. I have this overwhelming love for seafood, oddly enough it used to just be shrimp as i couldn't enjoy fish but now i have just become very dedicated to centering many of my meals around fish, shrimp and salmon. Not only are they a lot healthier but you can usually find all of these unprocessed, try your local farmers market on a Saturday morning.

Anyways, i realized that this would be no easy task, on day one, i almost had a serious mental meltdown because i felt so deprived. I was standing in line to order my food and that voice (I'm sure you have it as all foodies do)Just kept whispering in a beautiful voice, " Meat, get meat you know you want to". The cashier kept asking me for my order and i was trying to decide, decide if i was going to walk away from meat at that very moment or if i would wait to later. As we all know later is a recipe for NEVER. I ordered my meal without the meat and decided to endure the feeling of dissatisfaction, which for me is difficult because when i am dissatisfied with food i tend to purchase or cook until i am satisfied. By day four i had started to get over the withdrawals and was well on my way to incorporating more veggies and grains into smaller meals throughout the day. It is very important that grains, beans, veggies and nuts become an essential part of your diet as the protein is needed.

What i have found to be most difficult is when i start to remember that this means no more Traditional    lasagna or meatloaf (which were some of my favorites) There is a sort of a sensual experience in cooking these meals, however There are a host of Vegetarian style ways to mimic these menus, but sometimes it stings to realize that those things may be gone. When i say may i use the term very strongly, because going into this i made a rule that i wouldn't label myself as anything, i wouldn't say that i was vegetarian or pescatarian, just because i didn't want to have to commit to anything. Also being in the kind of business that i am in (Catering) there are many food and bloggers conferences involved, which means a host of new foods, ideas and ways of preparing things that may be of some interest to future clients. Basically, in my personal life i shall refrain from meat, however when on business i shall not be closed minded. The experience thus far has been interesting, to watch how your body quickly reacts and responds to change is an enduring reminder of how strong willed and adapting we are as humans.

If you or someone you know are thinking about such a lifestyle change or try, i would suggest you do the research and remember that jumping full throttle in  can actually cause more damage to your body by not understanding the amount of protein and nutrients now required to remain healthy. Below is a recipe that i recently created, very good and instead of chicken, i used shrimp, enjoy!

Penne Rigate with smoked and shrimp

Ingredients:

1 pound of 100% Whole Wheat Penne Rigate

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1/2 Pound of Shrimp tail removed and devaned

1 red bell, green and yellow pepper, diced

1 Yellow onion, diced

1 bag of fresh or frozen green peas, if using can rinse off before use.

1 8 oz tub of Philadelphia's Onion and Chives creme cheese

1 Tablespoon of Salt

1 Tablespoon of Pepper

Fresh Basil

Grated Feta Cheese


Preparation:

1. In large wok allow olive oil to become hot, then add shrimp,peas,

diced peppers and onions. Toss until shrimp become pink and all peppers and onions began to soften.

2. In a medium pot bring salted water to a boil and add noodles according to package instructions.

3. After turning the shrimp and peppers combo often, reduce heat and allow the juices to collect.

4. Once the Pasta has been cooked and is at desired readiness, drain any water from the pasta and then add the shrimp combo stirring frequently to evenly distribute.

5. Add the creme cheese to the mixture over medium heat, stirring often to evenly distribute.

6. After creme cheese has been evenly distributed and melted add pepper

7. Add pasta to plate Grate some of your best feta cheese and garnish with fresh basil.

As always, Eat like a Foodie!


Make sure your following me on Twitter : @AnthonThompson and my business account: @NaturalGFoodie

Drinkcipe of the week!

Hello all,

I know it has been a little time since we have last talked. Things have been pretty crazy with me, i guess everything that you would expect to happen when you are in the process of building a business.. or as i like to often throw in my friends faces, " Building an Empire" lol None the less, i have truly been trying to find more time in my BUSY schedule to dedicate to the faithful few that we have, who constantly support this blog! I am reminded daily that summer time is A CUMIN..(Gazes off into the sky), so you know what that means right? Yup, you said it..Long nights at amusement parks, sitting around enjoying an adult beverage while being eaten up by "Sketos" and the best of all, the many winery's that are now open for tastings..( If your anything like me you have a list of the ones offering tastings weekly) all of this to say that summer is about enjoying the freedom to play hard and drink harder all while trying to figure out how to be at work as little as possible. What i wanted to do is give you guys a Drinkcipe weekly, one that is mostly dictated by my mood and experiences that particular week. So when it's been a tough week, then you may see a little more Jack than normal, but on a easy or laid back week i may bring you the Drinkcipe to some of my favorite mixed drinks or fine wine options. Below is the Drinkcipe of the week, try making it and let me know what you think! BTW can you tell what kinda week it has been?

  Name of drink: Weekend Runner

Ingredients:

1 oz of white Rum

 1 oz of Jamaican dark rum ( if to strong try using something with a lower proof level)

1 oz Bacardi Rum (Using flavor Bacardi works only if you aren't using too many other flavored drinks)

3 oz of Orange Juice (You can always sub the OJ for something smoother to cut the taste i.e Cranberry Grape= My favorite!)

1/2 oz of unsweetened pineapple juice( Again too much flavor will cause you to need more rum..your decision)

1 oz of  grenadine syrup

Crushed Ice

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a mixer shake until well mixed add to salt covered rim glass, garnish and drink like a FOODIE!

It's been a long week you deserve it!


Follow my business page @NaturalGFoodie and my personal account @AnthonThompson on Twitter

Carbs, beyond the white flour

One of the main functions of my job is to make sure that clients have an understanding of "Healthy living", This deals with so much more than just food, i work on the person as a whole "The Whole Person" to address physical needs and desires, to integrate my clients in the community in such a manner that they are aware of nature and it's effects on food which directly affects us all as individuals. In this post i will be discussing Carbohydrates (Carbs), something everyone knows about, yet know so little about. The other day a friend told me that they couldn't eat pizza because of the carbs however, the bowl of pasta at the restaurant was not even given a second thought. I realized that in our heads we create the good carbs and the bad carbs. She thought because the pasta had broccoli and shrimp in it that it diminished the amount of carbs that was being taken in. When in fact she only intertwined GOOD carbs with BAD carbs.

**DISCLAIMER** When i use the term "Bad carbs" i'm basically referring to something that you don't want to make a part of your everyday diet. I know each  body works differently.

So exactly what are Carbohydrates you ask?

Carbohydrates in the simplest definition is a component of food that supplies energy (calories) to the body. The three broad categories of carbs are sugars, starches and fibers. We will review each level of carbs in depth to leave a clear understanding of their roles in our bodies.

SUGARS:

Sugar is arguably the worst kind of carb. Sugar acts as all carbs do by burning quickly and causing a blood sugar drop. How fast and how drastic the blood drops completely depends on the KIND of carbs consumed. Pure sugar is considered the WORST, followed by REFINED CARBS, such as white bread (or any bread with white flour), PASTA AND WHITE RICE are the next worst.  When  i use the term "REFINED" i am referring to the process of stripping a whole grain to it's lowest and least nutritional value, being heavily "processed".

Starches:

Most starches are long complex chains of simple sugars. They have many subsidiaries which makes them very complex in relationship to those starches that are complex and resistant. Resistant starches are those that are not digested in the small intestine and will usually cause very little to no blood level rise. While most starches are indeed beneficial to the body it is recommended that they be consumed in moderation. Because grains are normally put through a number of different stress levels to create some of Americans favorite meals and snacks, by the time the food is actually consumed it breaks up directly into sugar within the blood stream. Grains ( wheat, rice barley and oats), corn, potatoes, beans are all highly starchy foods which has the tendency to directly turn into sugar.Grains are made into cereal, cakes, pie crusts, bread and a number of different things after being highly processed. Yes some starches are good for you, including those that are natural such as corn, potatoes and some grains, but they must be consumed in moderation due to the breaking up of sugar.

FIBER:

Fiber is a BIG one! It's something that we all need, we all want but we all aren't getting enough of. Sometimes it is very difficult for meat eaters to get a healthy serving of fiber because a lot of their meals are dominated with meats because there is this idea that meat is the ONLY way to obtain any protein. Many meat eaters will balance their plates with the meat and the starches forgetting completely about fiber. Fiber is only found in plants such as grains, fruits beans and vegetables. Fiber provides few or no calories but are high in the health benefits that they offer. Fiber is known to keep the digestive system on track while reducing the chances of cancer and diabetes. For those who find it a difficult task to obtain fiber by eating there are a number of fiber supplements that can be taken.

**DISCLAIMER** Those who are on any sort of "diet" please note that fiber because of it's low to no calorie content is perfect for filling and maintaining blood sugar which are two very important factors in weight control.

There you have it Foodies! Carbs aren't just pasta and bread. With portion control you can enjoy carbs without a lot of the negative effects experienced by overindulging.

Eat like a Foodie!

Follow us on Twitter @NaturalGFoodie



*Pictures derived from Google*

Foodie Update!

Foodies,

       Since we last talked i have fallen completely in love, head over heels and everything in between with this hot mama. I call her a hot mama because she keeps my insides warm and feeling amazing, Oddly enough i met her in a kitchen a couple a weeks ago, she's always been there, i just happen to be one of those people who are sometimes set in my ways and fail to notice a good thing when i see it( i guess all men can say that to some degree). None the less, i recognized her worth and we have been going steady ever since. Her name is Rochelle and she is apart of the GE family, she is my  favorite slow cooker! I've actually started dedicating time to using it more often and what can i say.. I'm HOOKED! Normally when i cook meals i don't always have the time or energy to wait hours, heck i barely have the time in one day to dedicated 20 minutes for PERSONAL cooking. However, last week before i headed to Ocean City ( Which is a story in itself) I wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's day with a traditional dish. I made Corned beef and cabbage.( Mouth watering just thinking of it) Now growing up my mother would make corned beef and cabbage without it being St. Patty's day so i never knew that  I don't know if it was being a kid or just my lack of patience, but it used to take FOREVER for a corned beef to get done. My mother would boil her beef and then throw the cabbage in after the beef was half way done. I took a less traditional approach using the pot then transferring the meal into Rochelle (My slow cooker) and mine came out more like a cabbage and corned beef soup, which i must say was the ultimate treat! I then finished it off with a homemade fried cream of corn that just balanced the complete meal out.


Corned Beef&Cream of corn soup

Ingredients

1 Pack of Corned beef ( Ibs size depends on amount of guest)
4 tbs of fresh ground pepper
2 tbs of sea salt
1 tbs of lemon zest seasoning
2 heads of fresh cabbage
12 stalks of white corn
1 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of water
1/2 stick of butter
Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese


Directions:

1. In large pot add 2 tbsp's of salt, 2 tbsp's of pepper, lemon zest and corned beef  Fill the pot with water until the meat is just covered,Allow meat to cook for 3 1/2 hours or until fork can easily pull meat apart.
2.  Cut lettuce head straight down the middle removing hard white parts. For a more soupy feel double chop all lettuce then add to the meat 35 mins before it is to be done.
3. In a medium frying pan add shucked corn off of the cob into frying pan with butter. Allow to cook on medium until corn began to cook
4.  Add the heavy whipping cream to the corn stirring frequently.
5. In a small bowl whisk flour and milk together than add to the corn
6. Continue to stir the corn mixture until thickens.
7. Add shredded Parmesan cheese into the corn stirring until it thickens
8. Once cabbage and corned beef are done, drain all drippings except for 1 cup.
9. Pour corned beef, cabbage and corn into a small or medium crock pot depending on serving size and allow the mixture to cook for 1 hour.
10. After 1 hour allow soup to sit for 15 minutes until thickens garnish and serve.

As always,

Eat like a FOODIE!

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Featured Foodie- The belly of a vegan!

We are ending this week with our " Featured Foodie" Kassandra Ortega who is a vegetarian turned vegan, deranged animal lover and supporter of most things positive! Funny enough when i first met Kassandra (Kassie to her friends) in college some years back i knew four things for sure about her, 1 she was always a good time, 2 She is the ultimate animals rights lover, 3 she can talk politics with such passion and most times dramatic insights and 4 she would NOT under any circumstances eat anything that lived and had parents..lol one of my first run ins with this sassy and very in touch with her self personality was at a Superbowl party that i had thrown and she attended. The food was amazing and we had a spread that only a true foodie could understand and enjoy, When Kassie arrived at the party  being the foodie that she is went straight to the food  table and started loudly saying, " I can't eat this, i can't eat this and wouldn't dare eat that". she explained that she was vegetarian which almost sent the whole party in an uproar. Needless to say we all walked away educated about animal rights, the ideology behind being vegetarian and what we decided to do what that information was our business. I recently got in touch with Kassie thanks to some of our readers who had emailed questions about being Vegetarian and Vegan during our month of unprocessed living. I figured who better to answer a few of your questions!

1. How long have you been on a plant-based diet and what caused you to choose this lifestyle?

6 years ago, I watched a documentary called Earthlings (you can watch it for free here: Earthlings.com). It’s an award-winning film about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, entertainment, and medical research. From that day on, I stopped supporting the meat industry. A year ago, I watched another award-winning film, Forks Over Knives (catch it on Netflix or Hulu right now!), that examines a theory that all of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, and even reversed, by dismissing ALL animal-derived foods from our diet. This began my soul search to eliminating dairy products and moving towards a plant-based diet. I have been running on plants for 5 months and absolutely loving it!

2. There is so much criticism around eating plant-based vs. animal-based diets, and how they affect the human body. Have you felt any major positive or negative differences? 

When I stopped eating animal flesh and continued to consume dairy products, I had peace of mind thinking that I wasn't supporting a cruel industry, but I didn't notice a physical positive change in my body. I was slightly heavier in weight than I wanted to be and I didn't have anybody confidence. After 5 months of dropping dairy and becoming plant-based, I lost 15 lbs. solely by diet, my facial blemishes are clearing up and I am starting to enjoy the natural taste of real whole foods. Before becoming plant-based, processed foods were 80% of my diet. It’s amazing how quickly the human body adjusts to change. I can now bite into a raw red pepper and my taste buds go wild

3. Do you crave meat and dairy?

Never. I know what goes on with the meat and dairy industry and I have made the connection that animal products are carcasses and secretions. It disgusts me, so I never desire those products. Those who adopt a plant-diet for health will find this part far more difficult, especially with cheese. Cheese contains 1/10 of the chemical that makes morphine addictive, so our brain receives a false sense of pleasure when it is consumed. I suggest making an effort to slowly wean it out of a diet. Have cheese only 4 times a week, then 3, then 1, then never. After a month or two of rejecting cheese, it is very unlikely the cravings will come back, especially after eating more whole healthier foods.

4. Many people have the notion that all vegans are animal advocates. Is this true?

It is never fair to generalize or stereotype a group of people, especially if it’s a stereotype based only on what one decides to eat, or not eat. Funny enough, I am passionate animal rights advocate. I will stand in the blazing California sun for 4+ hours to hand 1,000 college students a Vegan Outreach booklet and educate about the horrors of the meat and dairy industry and what it does to the human body. But that is not true of everyone who chooses a plant-based diet. Many vegans and vegetarians are regular, everyday folks who may not care about animals and adopted the lifestyle for the copious amount of health reasons. Even if all vegans happened to be animal’s rights advocates, it would be for good reason (watch Earthlings for the good reasons).

5. What is the difficulty level of finding good, quality meals that are conductive to your lifestyle?

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest) of how difficult it is to find plant-based recipes based around any lifestyle, I would say: 0. Yep. 0. It is so easy to find a delicious vegan recipe in the world we live in today. Plant-based diets are now extremely popular and new plant-based cookbooks and websites are popping up all over! Specific plant-diet blogs that I recommend are Fat Free Vegan (blog.fatfreevegan.com) or Cheap & Simple Vegan (cheapandsimpleveganrecipes.com). Even general recipe sites like All Recipes (allrecipes.com) and Super Cook (supercook.com) have search tools for specific diets. Its insane how many resources are out there that are free and that are easy access to us!

6. What advice can you share to those who are interested in adopting a plant-based diet?

Do your research. Watch documentaries, read books, listen to speakers... do anything you can to continually educate yourself about our food system. Let's just say that our current mainstream food system is not designed for the best interest of the consumer. Keep learning and keep empowering.

Don't feel pressured by others. There are still people out there who haven't made the connection and consider a healthy meal to be a slab of chicken sided with a cheese and ranch dressing salad. Remember, you are the ONLY PERSON who can take control of your own body, prevent disease, cancers and reach optimum health. Don't allow others to pressure you, or make you feel like what you are doing is wrong. It may not be the most popular diet, but you are not alone in the plant-diet revolution.

7. What is one of your favorite recipes?

I will provide two for you all! Dinner and desert.

Southwestern Stuffed Butternut Squash

You'll Need:

1 butternut squash

1 cup of cooked black beans (canned or fresh)

¾ of an onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

½ can green chiles

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder

Vegan cheese

Cilantro, salsa, avocado (optional)

teaspoon salt

Directions

-Preheat oven to 375 F.

Halve and seed your squash, and then hollow out each side just enough to form a shallow boat. Brush a baking sheet with some olive oil and also brush your squash with a little olive oil (both sides).

Roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, flesh-side down, or until the flesh is soft when you pierce it with a fork (if you leave the skin on, it may need to roast longer).

Meanwhile, sauté onions and garlic in a pan for about 3 minutes. Add bell peppers, chiles, and spices, and sauté another 5 minutes or so. Add beans and stir. Saute a few minutes longer and remove from heat.

Remove squash from oven and stuff with filling. Top with some vegan cheese and return to oven for about 5-10 minutes. 

Chewy Coconut Bliss Bars

What You Need

2 cups flour

1½ sticks Earth Balance

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 egg replacers (I used Ener-G)

1½ cups of vegan chocolate chips

1 cup of shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×13 glass dish well and set aside (you could also line with parchment paper or greased foil)

Mix together the Earth Balance, egg replacers, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl.

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine, and then stir in coconut and chocolate chips.

Pour in the baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes (oven times may vary).

Pictures derived from www.cheapandsimpleveganrecipes.com

Stay Plant Strong,

- Kassy Ortega

Kassy Ortega has a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration & Marketing from Central Penn College in Summerdale, Pennsylvania. She has done work under The Humane Society of the United States in D.C. and Vegan Outreach, Southern California. She currently is working under People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as a traveling campus outreach crew member. Kassy resides in Temecula, California with her fiancee, Josh, a Sergeant in the USMC, and adopted fur-baby, Paco. Feel free to email with any questions here: Kassy.Ortega@gmail.com

Foodie Digest- Thank You!

We wanted to take the time out and send a special thanks to our fellow foodies that joined along with our month of unprocessed living. We had over 223 people actually participating through Facebook, Twitter and emailing. Messages that takes on the attitude that we want to see in people, a change in how we eat, which is a direct change in how we live. Our mission as supporters of a healthier lifestyle must never be jolted or diminished by our profession as caterers. We want them to work hand and hand. We understand and recognize that there is a great gap in the world of business versus social and moral responsibility. We are very much dedicated to making up that gap, dedicated to devoting ourselves to our work and business but also to the people whom we service because there is a great deal of work that needs to be done. We thank you for the awesome recipes, feedback and encouragment. Let's become more of the foodies that we all desire to be, one plate at a time!

Natural Gourmet Foodie Team!

Foodie Digest

So, here we are Foodies 14 days into our month of Unprocessed living and we are feeling great about the feedback, tweets and emails that we have been getting from you guys! So many people are telling us how much they are learning about food, how much they are experimenting and of course how much food they are eating! We encourage all of this, we encourage you to get in touch with your inner chef! One thing  we did want to address was a question via email that we got the other day. Alaina asked, " While grocery shopping i have noticed that a lot of the meats that i want to purchase all say all Natural, how do i tell them apart is there a particular brand that you use" That was a good question one that we definitely wanted to address. What you will see a lot of times in the grocery stores are food packaging that say. " All Natural" and this is because people are paying more attention to the foods that they are eating like never before and in an effort in maximize profits while selling us all "false hopes" they label theses foods without any consequences since the " All Natural" term is unregulated. What we would suggest is searching for your local meat whole sales, like a farmers market that also sells meat or a slaughter house. We suggest these people first because we always want to support our local farmers after having a clear understanding of their practices. A for sure place is a Whole Foods store, this company is strict about the items that they allow to be sold within their company. You can be sure that anything that you get from them will be fresh and in it's whole or natural state.We encourage you all to be diligent, investigative and very open to the new foods that you will discover. We don't have long to go so let's continue to strive to live, cook and of course eat better daily! We will see you all Tuesday for our weekly live twitter chat! #NGFChalleneg,#AllNatural, #Realfood